Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

UMass takes on Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament

Think of it as any other game.

That’s what Massachusetts men’s lacrosse coach Greg Cannella has been telling his team all season.

This Sunday, though, it’s hard to not think of the game as any other game. UMass will travel to New Jersey to play Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 5 p.m.

The Minutemen (9-5, 6-1 ECAC) earned their way into the 16-team tournament last weekend after defeating Rutgers, 11-10, in overtime to win the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship. This is UMass’ 18th tournament appearance and its first since 2006 when the Minutemen lost to Virginia in the championship game.

‘[The senior class is] the only group that has experience in the NCAA Tournament. A couple of them have spoke up already about preparation and hopefully some of the younger guys are listening and then those guys can settle some of the young guys down if they are too excited on Sunday,’ Cannella said.

Cannella has prepared his team for each game the same way and has trained them not think of games like Sunday’s differently from any other game out of the season.

‘Its always exciting playing games like this. This will be the seventh time that we’re doing it. You learn to stay composed and make sure your guys see you composed,’ Cannella said. ‘I remember one game I was very nervous, and we played that way.’

UMass has won five consecutive first round NCAA games under Cannella. The last time the Minutemen lost a first round game was in 1995, Cannella’s first year as coach. The 11-6 loss came against Princeton. UMass has faced Princeton one other time, an 11-9 loss in the second round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament.

No. 4 Princeton (12-2) failed to reach the tournament last season and tied Cornell this season in the Ivy League Championship.

Out of the teams that UMass has played this season, Princeton is most comparable to Syracuse. They both play a running game ‘- Princeton isn’t as big as Syracuse, but faster.

‘[Princeton is] really pushing transitions the best they can and playing patiently in 6-on-6 when they get it. [They are] very, very solid on the defensive end,’ Cannella said. ‘We’ll change some things up as the game moves along as well. We won’t do the same thing all day defensively.’

Princeton is strong offensively with six players having more than 20 points. Attackers Jack McBride (34 goals, seven assists) and Tommy Davis (25 goals, 16 assists) lead the Tigers in points.

‘They have a great team concept on offense and great team concept on defense. They have the ability of finish the ball really, really well. They have six sharp shooters out there at once. And their attack is excellent.’

On Sunday, UMass needs to score. The Minutemen have a similar game plan to what they wanted to do against Syracuse on April 25 (10-3 loss).

‘If teams shut you down for too long you’ll be out of the game that’s just the way it goes. Especially with a good team like Princeton,’ Cannella said. ‘You have to score early, you have to score through 60, at least keep up with them.’

Princeton and UMass have faced seven of the same opponents this season including Rutgers, Syracuse, Brown, Hofstra, Albany, Harvard and Yale. Princeton went 6-1 against common foes, while UMass went 3-4. The Tigers’ lone loss came against Hofstra.

‘They lost to Hofstra and they lost to Cornell. You view those tapes and try to use some of what those teams did against them to come out on top, as well as some of [Princeton‘s] close wins. It was a tie game in the third quarter against Yale and Harvard loses to them by a goal,’ said Cannella.

‘There are some common opponents that you feel you competed with that maybe helps [the players] more than us [coaches]. We’re nervous all the time when you watch tape. For these guys some say you know ‘oh we played these guys pretty tough we can compete,’ he said.

The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to the quarterfinals at Hofstra on
May 16 to face the winner of the Cornell-Hofstra game.

Melissa Turtinen can be reached at [email protected].

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