Where: @ Rutgers
When: Tuesday, March 17 at 7:00 pm
Rutgers and Princeton match up once again in their annual game on Tuesday. Princeton enters Tuesday’s game at 4-1 while Rutgers is 3-5. The Tigers won last year’s game by a score of 15-11. Tom Schreiber had four goals and three assists in a record setting game which made him the ninth Princeton player and second midfielder to reach 100 goals for a career. It also made him just the fifth player in Ivy League history—and first midfielder—to have at least 100 career goals and 90 career assists. Eric Sanschagrin had a strong game in net with 14 saves as well.
Rutgers led 6-3 before the Tigers went on a 5-2 scoring run before the first half ended. From there, Princeton went on to win the Tots Meistrell Cup for the 26th time in the last 27 years. The winner of the Princeton-Rutgers game gets the Cup, named for Harland (Tots) Meistrell, who restarted lacrosse at both schools in the early 1920s after it had been dropped in the 1880s at both.
Can Rutgers take the 2015 edition of the Tots Meistrell Cup?
Rutgers offense vs Princeton defense
Edge: Princeton
While Princeton has struggled this year on defense as they have allowed 10.5 goals a game, Rutgers’ offense is one of the worst in the nation. The Scarlet Knights offense does not rank in the Top 50 in the nation this year.
Rutgers has a very capable attack line as Scott Bieda, Christian Trasolini and Jules Heningberg have registered 28, 21 and 13 points respectively. However, the midfield position doesn’t make any defense tremble.
Princeton’s defense is led by goalie Eric Sanschagrin who has saved 52.3 percent of the shots he has seen this season. While Princeton doesn’t have takeaway defenders on the team, they do have experience and play pretty good defense. Alistair Berven, Aran Roberts and Bear Goldstein will have their hands full with the Rutgers attack line but they should be to keep a struggling Rutgers offense from tallying a big point total.
Rutgers defense vs Princeton offense
Edge: Princeton
Princeton’s offense is one of the better ones in the country. They average 13 goals a game which ranks within the Top 15 in the country. Meanwhile, Rutgers’ defense gives up 11.3 goals a game which ranks them 48th in the nation.
Princeton has threats all over the field and it is led by Mike MacDonald who leads the team with 28 points. The Tigers have four other players with at least 12 points on the season as Kip Orban (21 pts), Ryan Ambler (19 pts), Gavin McBride (14 pts) and Zach Currier (12 pts) round out the team’s Top 5 scorers.
Part of Rutgers’ struggles on defense have stemmed in the cage as Kris Alleyne and Jake Andersen have each got a significant amount of playing time in goal. Each player has seen their ups and downs but neither has been able to solidify a starting spot. Alleyne has a 42.3 save percentage while Andersen saves 42.6 percent of the shots he has seen this season.
Faceoff
Edge: Rutgers
Joseph Nardella is one of, if not the best, faceoff man in the game right now. Entering the game against Princeton, Nardella has won 122-of-179 faceoffs and a 68.2 percent win percentage. Princeton’s Sam Bonafede is no slouch himself having won 56.7 percent of his faceoffs in only his first season of collegiate lacrosse. He is also fresh off a game in which he went 17-of-28 in the Tigers win against Brown.
It should be a tight matchup throughout the game but Nardella should win 2-3 more faceoffs than Bonafede.
Conclusion
Last year Rutgers was determined to stop being Princeton’s little brother and came out of the gates hot, only to fall to Princeton. With a more balanced offense from Princeton this season and a Rutgers team that is rebuilding from a 2014 team that was senior-heavy, Princeton should win by a comfortable margin. It won’t be a blowout but expect a five-goal victory from the Tigers and for them to hold on to the Tots Meistrell Cup for yet another season.
