Laxers hope to cage out national champion Tigers


Friday, March 20, 1998	Laxers hope to cage out national champion Tigers By CHRISTOPHER ANTONACCI Collegian Sports Writer The men's lacrosse team will ride some "sweet emotions" as it heads out to tame the two-time defending national champion Princeton tomorrow. While the No. 17 Nittany Lions (2-2) stunned the No. 8 Georgetown Hoyas (3-1) last Saturday by a score of 14-13, the No. 4-ranked Tigers (2-1) will look to start another winning streak after their 29-game streak was snapped by No. 3 Virginia (3-1).
`Penn State Men's Lacrosse Home Page`	Penn State coach Glenn Thiel said he thinks the team's morale is high now after the win against Georgetown and the team is on an upswing. "I think that they are confident and feeling good about the opportunities that they have been able to create," he said.
Lion attackman Adam Pitarra carries the ball upfield with a Hobart opponent in pursuit. The team goes on the road to face No. 4 Princeton tomorrow. (Collegian Photo/David S. Spence - click for full size image)	This concerns Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "For (Penn State), it's a situation where they are coming off a huge win and I am sure that they want it to stay that way," Tierney said. Unfortunately for the Lions, they will be going up against a triumphant attack unit comprised of three seniors, Chris Massey, Jon Hess and Jesse Hubbard. "They may be the greatest attack unit that ever played," Tierney said. Lion defenseman Hamilton Pollard said because the attack has virtually no weaknesses, the defense will seek any advantage it can. "We try to take away their strong hand," he said. "It's tough to try and exploit any one of those guys in any way. When you go against a team like Princeton, you have to step it up."
Nittany Lion Greg Jackson tries to evade an Hobart defender in a game last season. Penn State looks to surprise another ranked teams as they face defending national champ Princeton tomorrow. (Collegian Photo/David S. Spence - click for full size image)	The Tigers will try to play more aggressively against Penn State by having the midfield push the ball during transition, Tierney said. By doing so, he said he hopes to get the ball to the attack more often. Turnovers will be key to the game, Thiel said, because if the offense turns the ball over it will allow Princeton to work the ball into their attack and allow an offensive assault on goalie Kevin Keenan. "We just have to do our job to try and contain them," Keenan said. "You can't let all of them have a six-goal game. We have to play very good team defense and hopefully we can back each other up." Although last season the Lions lost to Princeton 18-6 at home, Thiel said the team will not prepare any differently from other games. "Every year is a different year," he said. "Last year doesn't have a great bearing on this year." In addition, attackman Chris Killoren and defenseman Mike Herscha will be facing former West Genesee High School teammates Princeton midfielder Seamus Grooms, midfielder Geoff Lasda and attackman Mike Giarrusso. "It's always fun to go against people that you know, it creates a different competition," Killoren said. "You want to let him know that you got the best of him." Herscha said it will be a little awkward going up against his former teammates. "I guess it's kind of strange because we played on a pretty competitive team in high school and for us to go our separate ways, it's kind of weird."