Tigers talk positives after quarterfinal loss
By: Bob Nuse
TOWSON, Md. Just moments after his team had been eliminated from the NCAA tournament with an 11-6 quarterfinal loss to Maryland, Bill Tierney was able to keep his team’s season in perspective.
"I am awfully proud of these young men after a season where last year we were 5-7 and people predicted the ultimate doom of Princeton lacrosse," said Tierney, whose team was tied, 5-5, in the second quarter before Maryland held the Tigers scoreless for 38 minutes. "For these guys to make the resolve after a couple of tough losses to Virginia and Hofstra, to come back and work hard to put ourselves in this position shows the kind of players they are.
"Obviously, we’re very disappointed in the loss today, but you quickly try to move on to the big picture and know that it was a great season."
Princeton fell behind, 4-0, early in the first quarter. But the Tigers battled back and tied the game at 5-5 on goals by Scott Sowanick, Mark Kovler and Peter Trombino, as well as two from Tommy Davis. But the Tigers then went the final 8:41 of the first half, as well as the first 29:29 of the second half without a goal, as the Terrapins reached their third Final Four in three years.
"I think Maryland’s experience was an edge," said Tierney, whose team finished the season 11-5. "You have guys like Joey (Walters) and Xander (Ritts) and Billy (McGlone) and Brendan (Healy), they’re just great players. They ran an offense we knew they were going to run, but I did a bad job of preparing my team for that offense.
"We made an adjustment at halftime and I thought we played better in the second half. Although, as I told my kids, we lost to Virginia on March 11 because we couldn’t clear the ball, and here it is May 21 and we could not do it again. I’ll have to take the blame for that."
The Tigers looked like they had everything worked out when they scored four straight goals to start the second quarter and erase a 5-1 lead. But Maryland scored twice before the half, then added the first goal of the second half.
"We showed some resilience when we came back from down almost five goals," said Trombino, whose goal tied the game in the second quarter. "We brought it back and went into halftime down two. We felt good. The second half just didn’t go our way. They played well and moved the ball around. They played good lacrosse and they won."
Added Tierney: "The goals that really hurt us were the sixth and seventh. When we got back to 5-5 every time we touched the ball we were scoring. We were feeling good and getting shots on their goalie. At halftime we were not overly disappointed. I thought early in the half they get one and that eighth goal kind of put us on our heels a little bit."
"We have a young team. We saw a lot of young guys out there, juniors and freshmen out there offensively. If they learn from this experience, maybe next year we’ll be the experienced team next year. But Maryland played great today."
The Terrapins, who had lost five straight NCAA games to the Tigers, controlled the game with a patient offense and a defense that limited Princeton’s chances. In the end, that was too much for the Tigers to overcome.
"When you’re dealing with Coach (Dave) Cottle, you’re dealing with the best offensive mind in the game," Tierney said. "He certainly had them ready. They knew us. They prepare like nobody’s business. To score on a guy like Alex Hewit early like they did was somewhat of a surprise and you have to give them credit for that."
And you have to give the Tigers credit for turning things around after a tough season a year ago.

