Defense to carry Princeton
With the offense dealing with upheaval (more on that later), Princeton is expected to lean on its defense when the Tigers open the season with a trip to Hofstra on Feb. 26.
Senior Long Ellis (26 groundballs and 22 caused turnovers) and junior Chad Wiedmaier (12, 12) return as starting defenseman, and junior Jonathan Meyers (25, 11) has been tabbed to replace Jeremy Hirsch who graduated.
A healthy Wiedmaier, who was out until mid-season because of knee surgery last year, is key, coach Chris Bates said.
“Chad’s as good of a cover guy as there is, and having him healthy at the beginning of the year will certainly be helpful,” Bates said Monday. “Long and Jonathan Meyers should be our starting close defense. Jonathan’s gotten some good minutes over the course of the last year. So hopefully, that experience will pay off. And John Cunningham [54, 13] is a junior captain at long pole, so we feel like that’s a pretty sound group.”
The unit will be as good as junior goalkeeper Tyler Fiorito plays. The Phoenix native and McDonogh graduate registered an 8.58 goals-against average and a .569 save percentage, but Princeton surrendered 10 or more goals in seven of 16 contests.
“Starting with Tyler in the goal, that’s a luxury for us, and I think he’s ready to take the next step,” Bates said. “I don’t think Tyler was happy with how he started last season, and I think he’s primed and ready to hit the ground running. Saving the ball and clearing the ball, I think he’s made big improvements. I just think as an overall leader and as a guy who’s matured, I think that’s critical for us. There’s a little more of a sense of urgency when you’re a junior. There were great expectations for him and for that class coming in, and I think they’re starting to realize that the sands in the hourglass are dwindling.”
Other notes:
*The Tigers will miss midfielder Mike Chanenchuk, who set a freshman record with 28 goals last season and was named a unanimous Rookie of the Year in the Ivy League. Chanenchuk withdrew from school shortly after undergoing surgery to repair a broken collarbone sustained in a fall game against Georgetown. “You have to account for almost 30 goals that were scored last year,” Bates said. “He was somebody who scored big goals in big moments, and there’s something to that. But I think there are guys ready to step up, and I think they’re very capable of [doing] that. We’ve moved beyond that just because we’ve had to. I know it’s a pertinent question, but for us, it’s like an injury. You have to react to it. So yeah, we have to account for that loss in goals. I don’t think there’s one guy that’s going to do that. We don’t say, ‘The void is going to be filled with one specific player.’ But I think there are some guys ready to take the next step. I’d be surprised if they didn’t.”
*While Princeton tries to fill holes in the midfield, Bates said the offense will run through senior attackmen Jack and Chris McBride, who are cousins. “Jack and Chris McBride are the cornerstones,” Bates said of the duo, who combined for 51 goals and 24 assists last season. “That’s a given. I think [sophomore attackman] Luke Armour and [junior attackman] Cliff Larkin had really fine falls, and I think both of them could play. So it doesn’t necessarily need to be a middie that takes that position. But I think [senior midfielder] Tyler Moni, being more of a two-way guy, I think he’s primed. He’s had a really good senior fall and preseason. [Sophomore midfielder] Jeff Froccaro is ready to take the next step, we hope. Last year, he played well having Feb. 1 as his first practice after coming off of knee surgery. So he’s in better shape with a year under his belt. I think [junior attackman] Michael Grossman, [sophomore midfielder] Chris White, [junior midfielder] Mark Feild, [sophomore midfielder] Tucker Shanley are four guys that will see more minutes. I think the freshman, Tom Schreiber, will play. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’ll play, and he’ll play early.”
