5/26/2004 - Men's Lacrosse
No. 2 Navy Challenges No. 6 Princeton in Baltimore

Files associated with this release:
2004 NCAA Tournament Semifinal notes (Princeton)

Game 17 * #2 Navy vs. #6 Princeton
NCAA Final Four
Saturday, May 29 * 11:30 a.m.
Baltimore, Md. * M&T Bank Stadium
Series History: Navy leads, 38-15-1 (last meeting: L, 9-8 (2ot) on March 21, 1990)
TV: ESPN2, Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Quint Kessenich (color)
Radio: WNAV-1430 AM, Pete Medhurst (play-by-play)
WJFK-1300 AM (Baltimore), Joe Miller and Larry Quinn

Navy vs. Princeton: Navy and Princeton play on Saturday in the NCAA Semifinals, with the winner advancing to the title game on Monday ... the Mids lead the overall series against the Tigers, 38-15-1 ... Navy won the first meeting between the two squads on May 2, 1925, 2-0 ... the Mids have won five of the last-six meetings against the Tigers, but Princeton won the most recent contest ... the Tigers posted a 9-8 double-overtime decision on March 21, 1990, in Annapolis ... it is the only overtime contest in the Navy-Princeton series.

Navy vs. Princeton in the Postseason: Saturday's game will be the first meeting between Navy and Princeton in the NCAA Tournament ... Navy has earned a trip to the tournament 21 times, while Princeton is making its 15th-straight NCAA appearance.

Ivy Intimacy: Navy has never faced three members of the Ivy League in postseason action ... Saturday's game also marks the first time since 1988 in which the Mids have faced three different Ivy teams in a single season ... that year, Navy defeated Princeton, 11-4, but fell to Yale, 10-7, and Penn, 11-10 ... the next season, Navy won all-three contests against Ivy teams, as it defeated Penn twice and took a 15-7 decision over Yale ... before this year's NCAA Tournament, the Mids had not matched up against an Ivy League foe since Navy defeated Penn 12-8 on March 13, 1999.

Semifinal Story: The Mids' game versus Princeton on Saturday will be Navy's eighth NCAA semifinal appearance ... the Mids advanced to the first-ever semifinals in 1971, then made five-straight appearances between 1975-79 ... Navy's last semifinal appearance was in 1981 ... the Mids are 1-6 in NCAA semifinal action ... their only win came in 1975 against Cornell ... Navy fell to Maryland, 20-13, in the championship.

Navy in the NCAAs: This is Navy's 21st appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the fifth most of any school in the nation ... Navy is 13-20 in the NCAA Tournament ... the Mids' last tournament appearance was in 1999 when they lost to Hofstra, 15-7, in the first round ... Navy had not won two NCAA Tournament games since 1975 ... that year, the Mids dropped Penn, 17-6, then defeated Cornell, 15-12, before losing to Maryland, 20-13, in the championship game ... the Mids have never won three-straight NCAA contests.

Service Selection Saga: The members of the Class of 2004 will be commissioned as Ensigns in the United States Navy when they graduate from the Naval Academy on Friday ... in January, each senior (or ?firstie?) selected which branch (Navy or Marine Corps) they would serve in for the next five years ... the eight members of of the lacrosse team who will be commissioned Friday are:

Ben Bailey ... Naval Flight Officer
Jared Bosanko ... Surface Warfare Officer
Joe Bossi ... Navy Pilot
Dan Eddy ... Navy Pilot
Brendan Looney ... Intelligence
Matt Midura ... Navy Pilot
Thomas Morris ... Navy Pilot
Adam Reel ... Navy Pilot

Following the Flag: The Mids will run onto the field behind Gunnery Sergeant John Kob, USMC, who will be carrying a U.S. flag that was given to head coach Richie Meade and the Navy lacrosse team by Lt. Billy Gallagher, USN ... the flag was flown over the Joint Task Force 121.2 Compound during Operation Enduring Freedom in Bagram, Afghanistan ... Gallagher, a Navy SEAL, graduated from the Academy in 1997 after earning one letter as a member of the lacrosse team.

On the Other Side of the Bracket: The Mids lead the all-time series over Syracuse, 18-6-1 ... the teams have not met since May 22, 1989 when Syracuse took an 18-11 decision ... the teams first met in 1919 ... the Orangemen have won six of the last-seven meetings ... the last-three meetings (1987-89) were all second-round NCAA Tournament games ... Navy and Johns Hopkins faced off earlier this season, with the Blue Jays winning a 10-9 overtime decision in front of 18,694 fans ... it was Johns Hopkins' 30th-straight victory over Navy, the longest in NCAA Division I lacrosse history by one school over another ... the Mids have not beaten the Blue Jays since they posted a 13-12 victory on May 4, 1974 ... the two teams have never faced off in NCAA postseason play.

Streak Stats: The Mids own a 14-2 record heading into the NCAA semifinals ... the 14 wins are the most in school history ... the previous record was 11, accomplished twice (1949 and ?78) ... Navy's nine-game winning streak, the program's longest since the 1966 season when the Mids posted a perfect 9-0 record and won the National Championship, was snapped against No. 1 Johns Hopkins on April 24.

On the Road: The Mids have won all seven of their road games this season, including a neutral site game versus Colgate on March 20 ... Navy has beaten five ranked teams in hostile territory this season, with a 9-8 (ot) win at North Carolina, an 18-10 victory at Army, a 7-5 win at Georgetown, a 9-6 victory at Maryland and a 6-5 victory at Cornell in the NCAA Quarterfinals ... Navy also downed Lafayette, 14-1, to open the season.

Tournament Talk: For the first time since 1972, the defending National Champion did not earn a bid to the tournament, as Virginia finished the season with a 5-8 record ... Navy has never won an NCAA lacrosse championship, though it does have 17 national championships to its credit prior to the NCAA Tournament which started in 1971 ... the Midshipmen are 0-1 in championship games, losing to Maryland, 20-13, in 1975.

Meade Milestone: Head coach Richie Meade claimed his 100th-career win on May 2, as the Midshipmen defeated Hobart, 9-8, and won the Patriot League Tournament Championship ... prior to his arrival in Annapolis, Meade led the University of Baltimore to 27 wins ... he has picked up 74 victories at the helm of the Navy program for 102-career wins.

Navy's NCAA Championships: Five Naval Academy teams have won NCAA Championships ... men's fencing, which is no longer sponsored as a Division I sport at Navy, won three NCAA titles (1955, ?56 and ?62) ... men's soccer and men's outdoor track have each claimed one NCAA championship ... men's soccer beat Michigan State, 1-0, in 1964 ... men's track took the outdoor crown in 1945.

Naval Academy Teams in 2004: Navy's men's lacrosse team has not been the only Academy team to enjoy success in 2003-04 ... the men's water polo team played in the NCAA Final Four in December ... the women's soccer team earned an NCAA bid, becoming the first women's team from the Naval Academy to advance to the NCAA Tournament ... football played in the EV1.net Houston Bowl and won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy for the first time since 1981 ... rifle finished in third place at the NCAA Championship ... overall, six Academy teams won conference titles (men's Lacrosse, Rifle, women's Soccer, men's Swimming, men's Indoor Track & Field, men's Water Polo) and 12 Midshipmen earned All-America honors ... Navy's lightweight crew team is ranked No. 1 in the country and the heavyweight crew team is ranked sixth in the country ... Navy teams combined for a .580 win percentage and took the season series over Army for the 31st time in the last-33 years.

Tewaaraton Watch: Sophomore Ian Dingman, a preseason All-American, was one-of-15 finalists selected as candidates for the fourth-annual Tewaaraton Award ... the Tewaaraton Trophy is the most coveted and prestigious award a varsity lacrosse player can receive and a symbol of excellence in college lacrosse ... the list was narrowed down to five finalists on May 17: Ryan Boyle (Princeton), Kyle Harrison (Johns Hopkins), Brodie Merrill (Georgetown), Michael Powell (Syracuse) and Jed Prossner (North Carolina).

Rankings Report: Navy's 9-6 win at Maryland on April 10 boosted the Mids to No. 2 in the STX/USILA, media and InsideLacrosse Power polls the Mids have stayed in the No. 2 slot for six-straight weeks ... it is the highest ranking for Navy since 1975, when it ended the season at No. 2 ... the Mids compiled a 10-5 record that year and played Maryland in the NCAA Championship ... in the Mids' 21st attempt against a No. 1 team, they knocked off Maryland by a convincing 9-6 margin, their first win over a top-ranked team ... the Terps' loss boosted Johns Hopkins back into the No. 1 spot ... Navy is 5-1 against top-10 teams this season with wins over then-No. 4 North Carolina, 9-8 (ot), on March 5; then-No. 9 Army, 18-10, on March 27; then-No. 4 Georgetown, 7-5, on April 3; then-No.1 Maryland, 9-6, on April 10; and No. 7 Cornell, 6-5, on May 23 ... all five wins were played on the road.

Giving up Goals: The Navy defense has made it tough for opponents to score this year ... the Mids are ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense, and have allowed only 106 goals in 16 games for a 6.63 average ... on the offensive side, the Mids are ranked No. 2 in the country in scoring ... Navy has a 12.43 average ... Navy is also atop the national rankings in scoring margin with a 5.84 average.

Russell Review: Sophomore Matt Russell, Navy's co-MVP, was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for three-consecutive Mondays after leading the Mids to back-to-back-to-back wins against top-10 teams ... Russell took over the starting role in goal at North Carolina on March 5 and has led Navy to nine-straight wins since the switch ... he suffered his first loss against Johns Hopkins on April 24 ... Russell picked up 13 saves against the Blue Jays, as Johns Hopkins took the one-goal win in overtime ... Russell limited the then-top-ranked Terps - who averaged 12.75 goals per game - to only six goals (and only two in the second half), while picking up 12 saves as Navy knocked off Maryland in College Park ... Russell recorded a career-high 14 saves at Georgetown and allowed only five goals in the contest ... at Army, he picked up 13 saves as the Mids clinched a Patriot League Tournament berth in the 18-10 win ... he is ranked No. 2 in the country with a 6.28 goals-against average and has a 5.00 average in NCAA Tournament action.

Navy Notations: Sophomore Ian Dingman leads Navy with 57 points on 34 goals and 23 assists ... his 57 points are tied for the ninth most scored by a Midshipman in a single season, while his 34 goals are tied for 13th in Navy's single-season record book ... Dingman is ranked No. 12 in the country in point production with a 2.56 points per game average... Dingman has recorded 40 assists in his first-two seasons, which ranks as the 19th-best career total at Navy ... senior Joe Bossi leads the squad with 41 goals, the third most scored by a Midshipman in a single season ... he is No. 10 in the nation with a 2.56 goals per game average ... sophomore Jon Birsner leads Navy with 24 assists and is ranked No. 15 in the country with a 1.63 assists per game average ... 22 different Midshipmen have scored at least one goal this season and 21 Mids have tacked on at least one assist.

Dingman Nears 100: Sophomore Ian Dingman has tallied 97 points in his first-two seasons ... as a freshman, Dingman netted 23 goals and 17 assists ... this season, the attacker has added 34 goals and 23 assists ... the last Mid to break the 100-point career total was Eddie McKinnon (1999-02), who finished with 126 points to rank 13th on Navy's all-time list ... Navy's all-time leading scorer, Jeff Long (1974-77), finished his career with 233 points ... Long, the head coach at Ithaca College, spoke to the Mids the night before Navy beat Cornell, 6-5, in the quarterfinals.

Convincing Conquests: Navy has posted four wins this season by double-digit margins and another five victories by five or more goals ... the Mids are atop the national rankings in scoring margin (6.17) ... Navy posted 23 goals against Holy Cross, the most by any NCAA Division I team this year ... 18 Mids scored in the game ... Navy also has the second-highest single-game total this season with 21 goals against Colgate (tied with Albany's 21-13 win over Hartford on April 21).

Face-Off Facts: The Mids take an early advantage over their opponents, having won 233 of the 360 face-offs this season ... Navy is ranked No. 3 in the nation with a .647 average ... Chris Pieczonka has won 138 of his 209 face-offs (.660), the third-best single-season win total in school history, and is ranked No. 2 in the country ... after winning 12-of-13 face-off attempts at Cornell in the NCAA Quarterfinals, Pieczonka ranks second in the Navy record book with 191-career face-off wins ... the Mids have two of the best back-up face-off specialists in William Wallace and Tommy Wallin ... Wallace stepped up during the Patriot League Tournament when Pieczonka was sidelined with an injury ... Wallace won 14 of his 18 attempts against Colgate and then won 10 face-offs against Hobart ... his 46 wins this season ranks 17 on the single-season total and is the 10th-best career total in school history ... on April 3, Wallin battled the No. 1 face-off specialist in the country at Georgetown and came away with a 5-of-6 advantage over Andy Corno ... he won nine of his 10 attempts during the game and 45 of his 71 face-offs (.634) this season ... his 45 wins give him the 19th-best single-season total in school history.

Iceman Cometh: Face-off specialist Chris Pieczonka, nicknamed ?Iceman? by his teammates, won 12 of his 13 face-off attempts at Cornell in the NCAA quarterfinals ... for his contributions to Navy's 6-5 victory, he was named the Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week ... with the 12 wins, he moved up to No. 2 on Navy's career face-offs win list with 191 wins ... Pieczonka also scooped up five ground balls against the Big Red, setting the school record for single-season grounders with 75.

DiNola Details: Junior Seth DiNola started in goal in all 13 games last season and the first two contests this year ... after the loss to Ohio State, the coaches made a switch at goal and DiNola committed to the field full-time ... he has traded in his goalie stick for a pole and short stick ... he has played in each of the last-14 games at the wing position for face-offs, as well as in the defensive midfield.

Brothers in Arms: Last season, Navy had three pairs of brothers, but this season the Mids have a trio of Looneys ... Brendan Looney is a senior defensive midfielder, Steve Looney is a sophomore midfielder and Billy Looney is a freshman midfielder ... all three graduated locally from DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md. ... Dan Harris and Taylor Harris share the same last name, but are not related ... Dan hails from Manlius, N.Y., while Taylor is out of Clifton, Va.

Carthage Connection: Sophomore Ian Dingman graduated from Carthage High School (N.Y.) in 2000, the same school that produced Dave Trembly ... Trembly, the Bowie Baysox manager, was recently listed in Baseball America as one of the top-five managers in the minor league system over the last 25 years.

Multiple Madness: Senior Joe Bossi seems to like the back of the net when he faces Patriot League opponents ... he scored at least three goals in each of the seven regular-season conference matches ... Bossi scored a career-high five goals against Lehigh, recorded four goals against Hobart and netted three goals against Lafayette, Bucknell, Colgate, Army and Holy Cross ... in the postseason, Bossi added four goals against Colgate and Penn ... he has dropped in at least two goals in 11 of the last-13 games ... Ian Dingman might wear the number one on his jersey, but when it comes to scoring, he prefers larger numbers ... Dingman tallied a career-high five goals at Lafayette and against Colgate, dropped in four goals against Bucknell, recorded a hat trick at Army and netted a pair of goals at North Carolina, at Maryland, against Penn and at Cornell ... he has 17 multiple-goal games in his career (out of 29 games played) and 14 multiple-assist contests ... Jon Birsner recorded the 11th multi-assist game of his career with a pair of assists against Cornell on May 23.

Premier Performances: Twelve Navy players have scored their first career goal this season ... three plebes scored their first goals against Holy Cross on April 18 ... David Cohn, Ben MacNeil and William Wallace each tabbed their first score against the Crusaders ... Dan Harris notched his first-ever goal just 1:31 into the contest at Georgetown ... Conor McKenzie netted his first goal against Colgate, and then added three more during the game for good measure ... Steve Looney picked up his first-career goal against Bucknell - and then recorded his first multi-goal game with a three-goal showing against Hobart ... Chris Pieczonka picked up his first goal at North Carolina on March 5, just six seconds into the fourth quarter, giving the Mids a 7-4 lead ... the face-off specialist added Navy's only other fourth-quarter goal to put the Mids ahead 8-7 with 8:12 to go in regulation ... senior Matt Midura netted his first-career goal against UNC ... Taylor Harris, who made only one appearance as a freshman, has seen action in both games this year and scored his first goal against Ohio State on Feb. 28, giving the Mids a 3-1 lead in the first quarter ... three Mids found the back of the net in the 14-1 victory over Lafayette on Feb. 21 ... Dwayne Osgood was sidelined with knee injuries his first two seasons but played in his first game against the Leopards and scored his first collegiate goal on an extra-man opportunity in the fourth quarter ... Billy Looney and Trevor Hoselton also notched their first career goals in the season opener.

Preseason Potpourri: Navy began the 2004 campaign with a No. 14 preseason ranking by Lacrosse Magazine ... three Mids were selected to Face-Off Magazine's Preseason All-America Honorable Mention squad: sophomore attack Ian Dingman, junior midfielder Graham Gill and team captain Thomas Morris (long stick) ... Dingman came off the bench in 11-of-13 games to lead the Mids in scoring with 40 points on 23 goals and 17 assists ... Gill started every game last season and produced 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists ... Morris was named Navy's defensive MVP last year, despite missing two games because of a nearly severed finger.

Patriot League Perfection: The Mids completed their regular season conference schedule with a perfect 7-0 mark ... in their first year in the league, the Mids also claimed the postseason tournament title with a 15-5 win over Colgate in the semifinal and a 9-8 victory over Hobart in the championship ... the Mids' best conference record prior to this year was in 2000 when they produced a 5-1 record during their first campaign in the ECAC ... Navy played as an independent before that season.

Patriot League Praise: The Mids posted a 7-0 conference record, collected eight Player-of-the-Week awards during the regular season, and put 10 Mids on the All-League First and Second Teams ... head coach Richie Meade was named Patriot League Coach of the Year and Billy Looney was named the League's Freshman of the Year ... during the season, keeper Matt Russell was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for three-straight weeks, as the Mids won three-straight road games against top-10 opponents ... Jon Birsner, Joe Bossi and Ian Dingman were each named the League's Offensive Player of the Week this season, while Mitch Hendler was named the Defensive Player of the Week.

Television Time: Dave Ryan and Quint Kessenich will handle the broadcast of the 2004 NCAA Final Four on ESPN2 ... the contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2 starting at 2 p.m.

Radio Review: Pete Medhurst will be calling the action on WNAV-1430 AM for Navy's NCAA Tournament games ... Medhurst is a veteran of Navy broadcasts, as he co-hosts the Navy pre-game football show ... Medhurst has also picked up the call for Navy men's and women's basketball ... in Baltimore, fans can also pick up the game on WJFK-1300 AM ... Joe Miller and Larry Quinn will be call the action for all-three games this weekend.

World Wide Web: For a complete report on Navy Athletics, check out www.NavySports.com ... the latest information from the Patriot League is available at www.PatriotLeague.com ... full NCAA Tournament coverage can be found at www.NCAASports.com.