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Message: [QUOTE="FloridaCuse, post: 5687146, member: 8912"] I put off reading this all day until just now (I saw when it came in just after 8am). I'm posting it because I think some may want to see what an objective third party has to say about yesterday's game. Although it is much more about Princeton and very little about us. Watching today's Hop/Va game got me back into caring about lacrosse. [I still think it was as much our poor offense as P's good defense.] [B]LACROSSE REFERENCE Review[/B] via free Expected Goals Email Feb 28, 2026 [COLOR=rgb(51, 51, 51)][FONT=Helvetica][TABLE] [TR] [td][TABLE] [TR] [td][HEADING=1][SIZE=24px][COLOR=#000000]Recap: Princeton vs Syracuse[/COLOR][/SIZE][/HEADING][/td] [/TR] [/TABLE][/td] [/TR] [/TABLE][/FONT][/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(51, 51, 51)][FONT=Helvetica][TABLE] [TR] [SIZE=4][td][SIZE=4][COLOR=inherit]Princeton walked into Friday's matchup with Syracuse in what looked on paper like a toss-up, but the Tigers spent most of the night dictating terms in an 11–7 win. They controlled the possession game, kept Syracuse to one-and-done trips on offense, and were never really chasing the result in the second half. Offensively, this wasn't Princeton at their sharpest, and that's probably the one caveat to an otherwise convincing performance. Adjusted for opponent, their on-goal shooting percentage checked in at 49.0%, down from 55.4% over the full 2025 season and below the 58.2% they posted in the first two games against Penn State and Maryland. That drop in shooting form showed up in the efficiency column too: a 33.9% opponent-adjusted offensive efficiency in this one versus 39.9% last year. So the Tigers put up 11 goals and did enough to win comfortably, but they did it more by grinding out possessions than by pure shot-making. The faceoff unit helped paper over some of that offensive slippage. Adjusted for opponent, Princeton posted a 64.9% faceoff win rate, a big jump from last season's 53.0% and well above the 50.2% they managed over the first two games of 2026. Even with Andrew McMeekin only at 53% individually (10 wins on 19 draws), the overall group performance gave Princeton a steady edge in possessions. In a game where the shooting wasn't as efficient, owning nearly two-thirds of the faceoffs was a major reason they were able to stay in control. On the other side of the ball, the defense was the real story. Princeton didn't just defend well; [B]they squeezed the life out of Syracuse's offense. [/B]Adjusted for the quality of the Orange attack, the Tigers allowed just 0.82 shots per possession, a substantial improvement from last year's 1.02. That kind of shot suppression is rare for them—only two games in 2025 saw them allow fewer shots per possession—and it lines up with what we've seen early this season (0.78 over the first two games). The impact on defensive efficiency was massive: they held Syracuse to an opponent-adjusted 10.8% efficiency, compared with 25.7% allowed in 2025. That's not just better; that's a completely different defensive profile. Put together, this was a game where Princeton's defense and faceoff play carried the day in what was expected to be an even matchup. The Tigers didn't shoot it as well as they're capable of, especially compared to last year's numbers, but they more than made up for it by tilting the possession battle and smothering Syracuse's chances. If the shooting ticks back up to 2025 levels while this version of the defense and faceoff unit holds, Princeton's ceiling looks higher than it did a year ago.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/td][/SIZE] [/TR] [/TABLE][/FONT][/COLOR] [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?