Maryland head coach Dave Cottle saw his squad lose to Navy during the regular season and to Princeton in last Saturday's NCAA Quarterfinals. He has watched tons of film on both teams and scouted both the Tigers and Midshipmen in-person on numerous occasions.

"Navy is built to beat Princeton," Cottle said yesterday in an interview with The Capital. "I think Navy has the advantage in an awful lot of areas. I see Navy winning this game."

That's a strong statement coming from Cottle, who is extremely close friends with Princeton head coach Bill Tierney. While Cottle favors Navy, he would not be at all surprised if Princeton pulls the upset.

"(Tierney) is the King of Tempo. His teams know how to play half-field because they do it every game," Cottle said. "If Princeton can make Navy play six-on-six it will have a chance. Navy is not at its best in a half-field situation."

Yet Cottle comes back to the checklist of personnel, both starting and situational, which has Navy winning in most areas. He gives Navy's Matt Russell the edge over Dave Law in goal and sees Chris Pieczonka and Tommy Wallin winning the bulk of faceoffs.

"Navy has a better, quicker, more athletic goalie and is much stronger at the faceoff X," Cottle said. "Navy is deeper and more athletic overall than Princeton and is really, really good at the full-field game of riding and clearing."

Cottle feels Navy must create transition or unsettled goals and feels one way to accomplish that is through aggressive riding. The Midshipmen utilize a special riding unit featuring Trevor Hoselton and Taylor Harris while clearing has not been a Princeton strength this season, according to Cottle.

Cottle does give Princeton an advantage when it comes to half-field offense, due primarily to the presence of attackmen Ryan Boyle and Jason Doneger. Boyle, a senior out of Gilman School in Baltimore, may be the nation's premier playmaker.

"You have to be careful with the way you play Boyle. When you slide to Boyle, it makes him more dangerous because he's very good at finding the open man," Cottle said.

Navy will likely have defenseman Mike Felber play Boyle cautiously, attempting to turn him away from his strong hand and into well-timed slides.

Doneger, a powerfully-built junior, is a superb shooter who prefers to play off-ball but can also carry when necessary. Cottle figures Princeton will go to an invert offense often with the midfielders playing down low and the attackmen up top.

"I think Princeton is going to invert and try to play big-little with a lot of moving picks," he said.

Princeton plays three freshmen on offense in third attackman Peter Trombino and midfielders Whitney Hayes and Scott Sowanick. Cottle doesn't consider any of the three a real dangerous threat and said Navy should be more concerned with 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior middie Drew Casino.

On the other end, Cottle expects Princeton to use a short stick to play shut off against Navy left-side shooter Joe Bossi and to slide hard to 255-pound attackman Ian Dingman. Senior Ricky Schultz (St. Paul's) is the leader of a close defense that plays a sound, sliding package.

"Princeton's defenders are all clones, system guys who don't make many mistakes," Cottle said. "Navy plays a similar style of defense."

If Princeton gets the tempo it wants, Cottle feels Navy must shoot at least 30 percent in order to win. He believes the Tigers will give up the 12-yard shot to midfielders and said the Mids will have to finish a few.

"Navy will have to make shots. Graham Gill could play a big role because he'll draw the long pole and if he can dodge and draw slides that would create open shots," Cottle said. "I think a guy like Ben Bailey will be key because he's probably going to get some open looks."

It is somewhat of an odd occurrence that Navy has drawn three straight Ivy League schools in the playoffs. Pennsylvania, Cornell and now Princeton all employ a methodical style that is different from what Navy has seen all season.

Cottle watched Navy's last three games against Hobart, Penn and Cornell and didn't see the same team that took top-seeded Johns Hopkins into overtime.

"I don't think Navy has played real well since the Hopkins game, but part of that has to do with the way teams have played them since then," Cottle said. "I think Navy is due to break out and get back to playing the way it did all season."

Cottle said penalties will be a statistic to watch as Princeton usually manages to draw more than its opponent. The Tigers have been whistled for 23 fouls this season while their opponents have picked up 86.

"Tierney rides the officials like a jockey and gets an awful lot of calls," Cottle said.

Cottle professed tremendous respect for the job Navy head coach Richie Meade did this season, but said he will have a hard time outwitting Tierney on gameday. Princeton boasts the best winning percentage (.778, 28-8) in NCAA Tournament history and is 19-3 in games decided by two goals or less.

"Billy Tierney is the best coach in college lacrosse. His record speaks for itself," Cottle said. "Navy just better hope it's not a low-scoring, one-goal game at the end because Princeton somehow always finds a way to win those.

Published May 27, 2004, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2004 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.