Tigers lacrosse, Kolkin set for Georgetown challenge
By: Justin Feil
The Princeton University men’s lacrosse team has won eight of its last nine games, but not all those performances have been pleasing.
The Tigers weren’t happy with how they played in the regular-season finale, an 8-7 win over Brown that preceded their at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Princeton knows it won’t get away with anything less than its best when it opens NCAA play noon Sunday at sixth-seeded Georgetown.
"We’re very focused this week, especially because we didn’t have a very good game against Brown," said PU defender Charlie Kolkin on Tuesday night. "We’ve had two good days of practice so far. The key is to keep working, keep getting better every day. Watching the Brown film was awful. I had to stop it a few times because it was frustrating. Stuff like that keeps you motivated. If you’re tired, you remember the feeling after the Cornell game, or that feeling after the Brown game that in your gut that you could have done better. For me, that’s the worst feeling in the world. That keeps you focused. That’s definitely a rallying point for us."
The Tigers also have motivation in the opportunity to play a home game in the NCAA quarterfinals that will be played at Princeton Stadium on May 19. Princeton has never lost to Georgetown in five meetings and last won in the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
"If there’s any motivation," said PU head coach Bill Tierney, "it’s to play at home next week. We and Navy are the only teams that could have home games next week. To do that, we have to play smart and play well."
The Tigers have done both at times, and they have also had games in which they have struggled to put together their top level. But their only loss in the last nine contests was to No. 1 Cornell, which drew the No. 4 seed for the NCAAs.
"I’m not sure about us," Tierney said. "We thought we were playing well after Dartmouth, but we didn’t play well against Brown. We thought we were playing well after Harvard, but we didn’t play our best against Cornell.
"If we play well, we’re capable of being a good team. We have been erratic though. We are consistently erratic."
In the last two weeks, the Tigers have dealt with a pair of injuries to key players. Zach Jungers, one of four PU players named to the Ivy League first team along with Peter Trombino, Scott Sowanick and Mark Kovler, hasn’t played in the last three games due to a knee injury, and Josh Lesko missed the Brown contest with a hamstring injury. Jungers is a finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy that is given to the nation’s top player.
"We don’t know what will happen," Tierney said. "Zach Jungers will give it a shot on his knee. We’ll see how it works out. Josh Lesko has a pulled hamstring and those can be worse. It’s the first time he’s had it, and it’s only been a week so it’ll be tough."
Enter Kolkin. The sophomore from The Gilman School played in every game last season as a longstick midfielder. This season, he started every game at longstick middie before Jungers’ injury moved him back to defense.
"We’d love to have Zach back," Kolkin said. "I haven’t played defense in a while, but it’s been a pretty smooth transition. It’s always going to be a little different moving down from pole. In our defense, it’s great. We shift around and really most players are going to feel comfortable anywhere on the field. There are some things that I am a little rusty on some of the finer points to playing defense. I think I’ve been practicing for two weeks now so I’m getting back into it. There’s still lot of work to do, but hopefully it’ll get there. And hopefully Zach will come back."
Kolkin held Brian Koch, who had scored five goals against Albany the week before, without a goal when the Tigers more than doubled up Dartmouth. Wherever Kolkin ends up against Georgetown, he will be an important part of the Tiger defense.
"Charlie went from our first longstick to our third defense," Tierney said. "It’s been a change, but he’s been great. He’s very good. He understands the game. He’s been a cool story.
"He’s done a good job. He did a great job on Koch. He played well against Brown. I don’t think we played well as a team defense. We didn’t help each other enough."
Kolkin is understanding his role on defense more with each day of practice. There are subtleties to the change of positions. But Kolkin doesn’t want to make more of the change than he should.
"I feel like I over-thought a lot of stuff going into Brown," he said. "Dartmouth, I felt very comfortable. I kind of took a step backward against Brown. We all did. There’s a very fine line between over-thinking and under-thinking and just going out there and playing. Some of it, you won’t see some things that will give you problems playing Dartmouth. The guy I was playing, he didn’t do a lot that I had trouble with. He played on the wing, which I’m pretty comfortable with. Other players will do things that I kind of have some trouble with.
"My goal now is to personally clean up the other aspects I’ve been having trouble with. When this weekend comes around, it’ll be all cleaned up. I feel comfortable on defense. That’s what playing all my life."
The Tigers have enjoyed a strong defense all season, though having a healthy Jungers certainly makes it better. Princeton will need its top defense against Georgetown, which has an improved attack this season.
"They have some big strong middies who are good dodgers and good attackmen who can put it in the goal," Kolkin said. "From a defensive standpoint, we have to do what we’ve done all year, and not lose focus. We’ve been doing a good job all year of playing our defense and not trying to game-plan too much, but also knowing our opponent well. If we stick to what we’ve been doing all year, we should be in good shape as long as we don’t lose concentration."
The Tigers are looking to bring everything together this weekend. The bottom line, however, is that style points don’t matter Sunday. Princeton just wants to get by Georgetown, and one key to that will be the play of the defense.
"We want to stick to what we’ve been doing all season," Kolkin said. "Our defense, we want to keep doing what we’ve been doing because it’s been working."