Here are Tambroni's thoughts on the matchup:

Attack

Princeton - This is without question the strength of Princeton's team. As the year went on, the leadership of Ryan Boyle and the maturity of Jason Doneger took over. Their team goes as those two guys go. If you limit them, because this year they're just so young offensively, you have a chance to be successful.

It is easier said than done. Boyle (22 goals, 41 assists) does it all. He has unbelievable vision and makes everyone around him better. He is a first-team All-American, unquestionably one of the top two or three players in the country. If you don't slide to him he goes to the goal himself, which Maryland found at the hard way (in the quarterfinals). If you do, he finds other people.

Doneger (36 goals) is just a big, strong inside player who always finds a way to direct the ball toward the goal. He is an extremely capable dodger, you just don't see it because of Boyle. Doneger is always the first look, and they do such a good job of moving him on and off the crease that you can't ignore him for a second.

Navy - All three are very good. They create such matchup problems. Joe Bossi (Skaneateles, 41 goals) is so good off the ball that if you leave him alone for a second he rips it stick-side upper corner.

Ian Dingman (Carthage, 34-23), in terms of sheer size (6-foot-3, 248 pounds), is an incredible challenge. Anywhere within five yards of the goal you must slide to him. One play that sticks in my mind from our game was we had Casey Stevenson (6-4, 200), who is not small, all over him and then Tim DeBlois, our best defenseman, slid to him and both are hanging all over him, and he finds a way to slip through and score. Even when you think you have him covered he is still dangerous.

Jon Birsner (8-26) is just a quick and an excellent complementary player. He does a good job of controlling the offense. He is the point guard on that team.

Midfield

Princeton - They have six guys who are basically one and the same. All are pretty good, and they're all young. The one thing I saw in the Maryland game is they've grown up a ton. You look at that schedule Princeton plays and you realize that even though they're young they've played in a lot of big games now. They are battle-tested and have responded well.

Whitney Hayes (11-14) and Scott Sowanick are the two I'm most impressed with. They just played with a lot of poise against Maryland. Drew Casino (21-5) is the biggest threat, and he's done a great job at the faceoff X, as well.

Navy - Whereas Princeton's offense runs through the attack, Navy's runs through the midfield, which is its strength. They are more like us in terms of having their middies create offense and the attackmen finish.

Their middies are so athletic you have to slide to them. Maybe, aside from Syracuse, they are the most athletic we've seen. Graham Gill (21-10) is probably the best athlete we faced at midfield. He has great size (6-2), great strides, the ability to separate himself from defenders, and he shoots very well on the run.

Ben Bailey (17-3) is a great shooter. Throw in Steve Looney (13-10), who is so good at both ends of the field, and you have big matchup problems. With those guys outside and Dingman inside, that's a tough poison to pick.

Defense

Princeton - Both teams play a similar style of defense. I would give a little edge in the system to Princeton because they understand it so well, although it is hard to take the Princeton tradition over Navy's performance this year.

Oliver Barry is Mr. Consistent. He is a good cover guy who rarely seems to make mistakes. Ricky Schultz is just great at takeaway checks. They match him up against a guy with the best offensive skills. He has the innate ability to cover the running lanes with his body and the passing lanes with his stick. He knocks down a ton of passes. If you watch the Maryland game, it is him and not the goalie who actually knocks down the Maryland shot near the end, allowing his team to go down and tie the game. That's just something you can't coach.

Navy - Navy gets the edge in depth and athleticism. The roster is just filled with a great range of athletes at defensive middie and longstick. Typically, they just slide and recover, slide and recover. They run a lot of people at you. They knock it to the ground a lot because they're so athletic, and they just come at you in waves.

Mitch Hendler is so athletic he is going to be able to stay with Boyle. That's going to be a fun matchup to watch. Hendler is capable of defending the ball and he's a lefty, which will help him stick-on-stick.

Goalie

Princeton's Dave Law has gotten much better as the year has gone on. Having said that, Matt Russell from Navy is just playing incredibly well right now. We looked at him on film and found no tendencies to exploit.

As good as our goalie (Matt McMonagle) played Sunday, this kid was equally good, making critical saves at key moments of the game.

Intangibles

Navy's ability to dominate the faceoff X against us with Chris Pieczonka (.660 winning percentage) was a big factor in our game, and Princeton's faceoff guys will have to do much better against him. Casino (.516) was very good against a good Maryland faceoff guy. That will be a key. Possession time will be important.

As far as Princeton's experience in the final four, you can say that about (coach) Bill Tierney, but the fact is this is a very young team. Boyle and Doneger lend experience and will help the younger guys with how to handle things. In terms of Navy's lack of experience, I think they make up for that in that they played Johns Hopkins in front of 20,000 people, and they have a lot of juniors and seniors making plays.

Two keys

Can Ryan Boyle take over the game? If he does, Princeton will win. Can Matt Russell take over the game? If he does, Navy will win. - Dave Rahme

© 2004 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.