It was a relatively quiet day for Tom Schreiber. He scored three on the day, two of them unassisted; as well as three assists.
Talk about comparable teams much? The Tigers and Tar Heels were practically neck and neck the entire time. I was not until the closing minutes of the game that North Carolina finally pulled ahead, and Princeton lost its steam.
On North Carolina’s side of the ball, Chad Tutton recorded three goals and an assist. With 3:50 remaining in regulation, he scored the goal that pulled the Tar Heels ahead by one, making it 12-11 NC. Then with 13 seconds remaining, Princeton was capped off by North Carolina’s Jimmy Butler. Final score 13-11.
I happened to catch this game on ESPNU by chance at the sports pub. For a live televised event, the general public could not have asked for a better match.
The first quarter saw NC make 4 and Princeton make 3. The ball continued to exchange possessions back and forth for the rest of the game.
Second quarter went NC-2 Princeton-3. Third quarter went 4 overall, and closing quarter was 3-1 in the Tar Heels’ favor.
Both offenses were moving and cutting off-ball, while defenses remained solid. In the final minute of play, Princeton was forced to play pressure defense. This is the focal point of the rest of the recap:
For basketball and soccer lovers, pressure defense is understood as playing up beyond the mid-line and pressuring the ball. The downside is this leave a defense stretched out and unable to effectively recover. Football is called jamming, in which they’re allowed to physically disable offensive receivers from going through their route.
In lacrosse, the goal is not on the end line, so pressuring defense means two things: playing high, tight defense and playing low (at X). This leaves all the real estate in front of the cage open and accessible. Very vulnerable situation.
When the Tigers were forced into playing this pressure defense late in the game, defenders pressured the ball and even double teamed the ball a lot. Unfortunately, their efficiency wore off with 15 seconds left, allowing UNC to deliver their final blow.
