2019 Men’s College Lacrosse Year In Review: #46 Princeton Tigers

With the 2019 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to look back at how all 73 teams did during the season, along with an early look at each squad for 2020.

Note: These are not end of season rankings.

Here’s our last five Year In Review posts we’ve done:

• #51 Manhattan
• #50 Marquette
• #49 Siena
• #48 Navy
• #47 Saint Joseph’s

To see all of our posts, check out the 2019 Year In Review section on the site.

Let’s continue our 2019 Year In Review!

#46 Princeton Tigers

Conference: Ivy League
2019 Record: 7-7 (2-4 in Ivy League)
Head coach: Matt Madalon (3rd Season)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Michael Sowers (37)
Assists: Michael Sowers (53)
Points: Michael Sowers (90)
Faceoffs: Jack-Henry Vara (120-of-252; 47.6%)
Ground balls: Jake Stevens (60)
Caused turnovers: George Baughan (23)
Goals against average: Erik Peters (11.44 GAA)
Save percentage: Erik Peters (52.8%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: A Emmet Cordrey (30 Gs, 19 As, 13 GBs, 3 CTs), M Charlie Durbin (21 Gs, 3 As, 19 GBs, 4 CTs, 36.7% FOs), D Aran Roberts (6 CTs, 11 GBs, 1 A), SSDM Mike Morean (3 CTs, 14 GBs, 5 Gs, 2 As), LSM Charlie Tarry (8 CTs, 12 GBs)
Senior scoring departing: 82 of 314 points (26.1%)
Senior starts lost: 34 of 140 (24.3%)

Season Summary

Princeton once again had one of the top five players in college lacrosse in Michael Sowers. He broke the school career points record this season with 255, passing Kevin Lowe’s 247, and holds the top three spots on the single-season points list after a career-best 90 point campaign.

But he’s been to the Ivy League Tournament once as a freshman, when Princeton lost to Brown in the semifinals. But perhaps the Tigers are getting close to returning just as Sowers begins his final season.

They lost a heartbreaker to Virginia in overtime before losing by two to Johns Hopkins the next week. They also lost by a goal to Rutgers after a win over Navy. Their highlight in noncon play was upsetting Bill Tierney and Denver at home, Tierney’s first game at Princeton since leaving to take his current post out west. The Tigers may have spoiled Denver’s at-large NCAA Tournament chances as well.

Ivy League play is where the Tigers did not get the job done. They lost to the top four teams in the conference (Penn by 9, Yale by 5, Brown by 4, and Cornell by 1). In the latter three games, Princeton was either tied or leading at one point in the second half. The fourth quarters weren’t too kind for the team. Their two wins were against Dartmouth and Harvard, which were expected.

Chris Brown and Emmet Cordrey joined Sowers at attack for the entire season, both scoring at least 30 goals. The midfield was led by Charlie Durbin with 21 goals and 24 points. Phillip Robertson, Alexander Vardaro, Beau Pederson, and Jamie Atkinson were also big parts up top.

Defenseman George Baughan continued to shine despite having a lack of a national spotlight on him as he led the Tiger defense with 23 caused turnovers. LSM Andrew Song was a very solid long pole with 16 caused turnovers and 56 ground balls. Arman Medghalchi, Aran Roberts, and Cathal Roberts were other notable close defenders that protected goalie Erik Peters.

The freshman class had plenty of major contributors to the lineup, notably short stick defensive midfielder Jake Stevens, who led the team with 60 ground balls. He also added 11 caused turnovers, five goals, and three assists to go along with a First-Team All-Freshman selection. Stevens, along with fellow SSDM Luc Anderson, joined Vardaro, Pederson, Roberts, and Luciano Lazzaretto as rookie impact players.

Looking Ahead

Time is ticking on Sowers’ collegiate career. He’d love to help the Tigers get back to the Ivy League and NCAA Tournaments in 2020. And Princeton might be able to at least get back to the conference tournament.

Seven of Princeton’s top 10 scorers are back, led by Sowers, Brown, and Robertson. Stevens could see more time on the offensive side as well.

The defense should be fine with Baughan being their top defender, but look for Roberts to get more playing time after starting the back end of the season. Peters will look to improve on his numbers in goal, as will FOGO Jack-Henry Vara and his 47.6% faceoff percentage.

Princeton also brings in three Under Armour All-America players, midfielder Sammy English, defenseman Ben Finlay, and attackman Alex Slusher. They’ll look to also add to the Tigers’ run for an Ivy League crown in 2020 and beyond. Expect Princeton to be ready to challenge the Ivy League once again next season.