Tigers maul M. Lax

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Especially after coming off the 2001 National Championship, the No. 12 Princeton men's lacrosse team was not expecting to open the season with a 2-4 record, which included its first loss to an Ivy League opponent since 1995.

Just three days after the Tigers' stunning loss to the Yale, Princeton removed itself from its previous losses with an 18-4 shellacking of No. 17 Penn at Princeton's Class of 1952 Stadium.

The Tigers dominated every facet of play against the Red and Blue, controlling the offensive zone, negating Quakers' shots on goal and scoring at will against a helpless defense.

"They're the defending national champions, so until somebody beats them, they're still that," Penn goalie Ryan Kelly said. "We played a good team, and they came out mad. They lost a tough one Saturday, and they came out playing hard. We just didn't play well."

Had the Tigers beaten the Elis on Saturday, yesterday's game would have tied Cornell's 1972-79 Ivy record for consecutive wins at 39.

Princeton, however, has still not lost consecutive Ivy League games since 1989.

"We were real nervous today," Princeton coach Bill Tierney said. "I didn't know which team would show up. This was probably the toughest game that I've had to come off of."

Penn coach Matt Hogan knew that the opening of the game would be pivotal for the result.

"Early on we told the team that the first five minutes were the most important," Hogan said. "They scored in the first 30 seconds, and that gave them a lot of confidence. They made bigger and better and more plays than we did."

Princeton midfielder Brad Dumont began the scoring barage exactly 30 seconds into the game on a 10 yard overhead shot directly in front of the goal.

Damien Davis and Sean Hartfolis notched two more goals in the first quarter before Joe Roberta put the Quakers on the scoreboard to narrow the Princeton lead to two, 3-1.

But Princeton's final goal of the quarter may have broken Penn's back.

After hearing Tierney yell, "10 seconds," Princeton's All-American attacker Ryan Boyle sprang into action, rolling around Penn captain Scott Marinow. Performing a series of jukes, Boyle deposited the goal with 4.9 seconds remaining in the quarter, propelling the Tigers' advantage to 4-1.

Yet, even when Penn got chances to maintain possession, the Quakers contributed countless unforced turnovers to help the Tigers' cause.

"We had a lot of mental mistakes, and I don't have the answer for that," Hogan said. "I wish I did have the answer for that. I'm not really sure what we're going to do, but we can't continue to have those mental mistakes."

Penn failed to clear three times in the first quarter, and its lack of lack of communication also led to several Tigers' goals.

Less than four minutes in to the second quarter, Hartfolis stole the ball in the neutral zone because of a lack of communication among the Quakers' attackers. Hartfolis subsequently scored on a slicing drive to propel the lead to 6-1 with 11:43 remaining in the quarter.

Hartfolis tied a career high with five goals and also contributed two assists to the Tigers' win.

"When I create, that gives me an opportunity to loosen up the defense and the ball comes back to me," he said. "If I can dodge, hopefully guys will slide and the ball moves around. Hopefully I get some shots and others get some shots, too."

Princeton opened the floodgates in the second and third quarters, propelling the Tigers to a 17-3 lead after 45 minutes of play.

In the third quarter, Princeton's B.J. Prager scored his 100th career goal in the same fashion that won the Tigers' the National Championship last season.

With 2:27 remaining in the third, Boyle dished a pass to Prager directly in front of the goal, where he hammered home a left hand shot.

Spawning from a long tradition of Tigers' crease attackmen, Prager needs three goals to tie midfielder Josh Sims for fifth place all-time at Princeton.

"Ryan Boyle is guy who carries the ball on offense, but without B.J. we won't win any games," Tierney said. "B.J. is the only captain who's on offense -- he and Ryan Boyle run the show out there."

By the fourth quarter, both teams pulled their starters, including both goalies.

Penn goalie Ryan Kelly finished the game with 10 saves and 17 goals-against, while Princeton keeper Julian Gould finished with 12 saves and three goals-against.

The Quakers return to action on Saturday against Dartmouth at Franklin Field, where they will attempt to rebound from their second consecutive loss.

"We have to put this one behind us and get back to fundamentals," Kelly said.

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