Ivy preview: Princeton's beatable

To say that the Princeton lacrosse team has been the best squad in the Ivy League in the 1990s is as much of an understatement as, say, calling Rome the best empire of the first century. Put bluntly, the Tigers have been in a class of their own. After winning their first-ever NCAA championship in 1992, the young men from Old Nassau have sent nearly every opponent down in defeat en route to a staggering five national championships in seven years. "For the last couple of years, it would take a major miracle for any team to take the league over Princeton," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. But a tempest may be brewing in the world of Ivy lacrosse. The No. 8 Tigers lost their first two games of the season and appear beatable. No. 15 Penn and No. 13 Cornell, both off to hot starts, are ready to blow the lid off the Princeton dynasty. Princeton The Tigers are not about to cede their kingdom without a fight. They are still the most talented team in the Ivies and know just how to win. "They're still a very, very strong team," Van Arsdale said. "They lost a big part of their offense but their defense is still dominant." The Tigers, however, cannot help but feel the effects of losing the most productive attacking trio in recent collegiate memory. Jon Hess, Jesse Hubbard and Chris Massey have all left, taking their 618 career points with them. During the three years that this triumvirate led the Tigers attack, the team went 43-2, garnered three undefeated Ivy crowns and three NCAA titles. The Princeton defense, on the other hand, returns all but one starter from last year's championship squad. They held Ivy opponents to a measly 40 goals last year while the squad scored 93 themselves against the rest of the Ivies. Anchoring Old Nassau will be Corey Popham, the 1998 Final Four Most Outstanding Player. His 7.86 goals against average placed him second in the nation. The Tigers' 0-2 start has shocked some, but it ought not encourage the rest of the league too much. Granted, it is a subpar start, but the losses came against national powers -- No. 4 Virginia and No. 5 Johns Hopkins -- by a combined margin of only three. Beatable, yes. In trouble, no. Cornell The Big Red's current No. 13 national ranking is the highest since their 1992 campaign and their fans have good reason for excitement. "I think Cornell is a much improved team that has a chance to take the league," Van Arsdale said. "They also have maybe the best athlete in Ivy League lacrosse in Pat Dutton." A senior middie, Dutton was an honorable mention All-American last year and is currently only 19 goals from cracking the all-time Cornell top 10. Sophomore Andrew Schardt has chipped in a team-high seven goals. With 6-of-10 starters returning to a team that went 4-2 in the league last year, Cornell is poised for a breakthrough season. Brown If one word can describe the 1999 Bears, it is "experience." "This is a senior-oriented team that has a good sense of what it takes to be successful," Van Arsdale said. The Bears come off a disappointing 2-4 1998 Ivy campaign in which their offense netted only three more goals than its opponents. Relying heavily on the leadership of senior two-time All-American Jed DeWick, who had 44 points in '98, Brown should be more explosive. Brown has a shot at winning, and their co-championship in 1995 was the last time Princeton did not win outright. Harvard The Crimson lost their opener to Fairfield, 13-5, marking the first time they failed to begin on a good foot since 1993. They lost 6-of-7 second-half faceoffs in their loss. Harvard's 5-1 1998 Ivy campaign will probably not be duplicated since they lost 73 percent of last year's scoring to graduation. The biggest departure is 1998 Ivy Player of the Year Mike Ferrucci. Yale Coach Mike Waldvogel's Elis squad looks to repeat its 1998 defeat of the Quakers on Saturday, but they will probably not contend for Ivy gold. Their defense is led by first-team All-Ivy keeper Joe Pilch, who was also the 1996 Rookie of the Year. Offense will be the Elis' biggest problem; they only managed an anemic 33 goals in league play last year. Dartmouth The Big Green have a new coach in Rick Sowell, but don't look for them to improve much over last year's 1-5 league record.

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