It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
Tomorrow’s game for the men’s lacrosse team against Ohio State is not where it was expected to end.
The season began with high hopes that even in the absence of Sean Steinwald ’00, this could be the year the squad ended Princeton’s tenure as the top dogs in the Ivy League.
But it was not meant to be. As the Red prepare to do battle with the Buckeyes, all that will be on the line is pride.
“Regardless of whether we are or not where we want to be this season, we still have one game left,” head coach Jeff Tambroni said, adding that a win in this game is an important step in the direction of the future of the program.
After a rocky start to the season, the Red seemed prime to make a run at a NCAA bid. It had dismantled Harvard, knocked off Hobart for the first time in five years and engaged Syracuse in a mightily contested battle.
Then it surrendered a three-goal halftime lead to fall to Princeton and the hopes of an Ivy League Championship were gone. The laxers followed the defeat with a heartbreaking lose to upstart Brown and all hopes of a ticket to the NCAA’s were dashed.
Nonetheless, the team’s work ethic has not faded despite the rocky season.
“As disappointing as the playoff picture may be, this is an extremely resilient group,” Tambroni lauded.
The squad looks to give its seniors the opportunity to end their career on a winning note tomorrow against Ohio State (7-6, 2-3 Great Western Lacrosse League).
The Buckeyes are coming off a 15-6 pummeling at the hands of No. 12 Virginia, which sent them out of the Top 25 for the first time in five weeks. Cornell returns to action after a 9-8 overtime setback to Brown. That was the third occasion on which the Red dropped a decision by a single marker.
The series between the two programs began only last year, with the Red being on the right end of 11-5 decision on East Hill.
Senior David Key will look to conclude what has been a breakout season. He notched his 100th career point last weekend in Providence, RI. The team’s leading scorer this season he has taking just 49 shots, but 59-percent of those have found the back of the net.
Another constant has been junior goaltender Justin Cynar. The standout has turned away 141 of the 228 shots he has seen this year and sports a 7.23 goals against average, good for eighth best in the nation.
As his been the case all season long, one of the most crucial matchups will come at the face-off .
Gritty junior Addison Sollog will square off with young but talented Anthony Kelly. Kelly is one of only two sophomores ranked nationally in faceoff percentage.
Archived article by Gary Schueller