HOT BATH: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Michael Bath unloads the ball in recent action. Last Saturday, senior defender and team co-captain Bath scooped up three ground balls and had two caused turnovers as No 2. Princeton defeated Yale 18-7. The Tigers, now 11-2 overall and 5-1 Ivy League, will be heading to Ithaca, N.Y. this weekend to play in the Ivy postseason tournament. Princeton is seeded second and will face third-seeded Harvard in a semifinal contest on May 2 with the victor advancing to the final on May 4 against the winner of the Cornell-Yale semi. (Photo by Karla Donohue, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

As Michael Bath went through his Senior Day ceremony with the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team last Saturday afternoon, his thoughts turned to his first college campaign.

“Just being a freshman and having that senior class being such a great standard,” said star defender Bath, reflecting on his Tiger lax experience. “The seniors after that in my sophomore year and last year our senior class was amazing. We have tried to fill those shoes. We have a special group of seniors, all 11 of us are super close.”

This spring, Bath has looked to maintain that standard as he has filled the role of captain.

“It started my freshman year with those five captains and trying to replicate what they did,” said Bath, a 6’1, 200-pound native of Oakton, Va. “It is pretty easy when the path is already paved for you. It is like keep it going and take that one next step.”

As No. 2 Princeton hosted Yale last Saturday, it got things going early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and never looking back on the way to an 18-7 win before a crowd of 1,352 at Class of 1952 Stadium.

“Our main focus this week was to start out hot because last week against Penn (a 12-8 win on April 19), we started pretty slow,” said Bath. “We wanted to throw the first punch this weekend and we did so.”

The Tigers, now 11-2 overall and 5-1 Ivy League, will be heading to Ithaca, N.Y. this weekend to play in the Ivy postseason tournament. Princeton is seeded second and will face third-seeded Harvard in a semifinal contest on May 2 with the victor advancing to the final on May 4 against the winner of the semi between No. 1 Cornell and Yale. The winner of the tourney will receive the league’s automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA tournament.

In routing Yale as it tuned up for the Ivy tourney, the Tiger defense held the Bulldogs scoreless for a span of 30:26 from late in the first quarter until 1:59 remaining in the third.

“We have a great crew all of our poles can guard anyone in the country,” said Bath in assessing the defensive effort. “We have got [Coli] Mulshine the best cover guy in the country and we have the best goalie in the country in [Ryan] Croddick. That is the backbone of the defense. Everybody else just does their job and things work out. Their offense is one of the most talented that we play. They have nine guys who can score at any given time so the main focus was doing our job and supporting each other.”

Bath has developed a special partnership on the back line with classmate and good friend Mulshine.

“It has been great, we don’t talk as much on the field as off of it,” said Bath, who scooped up three ground balls and had two caused turnovers against Yale and now has 30 ground balls and a team-high 20 caused turnovers so far this season. “We spend a lot of time together, we are good buddies off the field so that helps with the chemistry on the field. We know that when one of us is down, we will lift the other one up and vice versa.”

Looking ahead to the Ivy semi clash against Harvard, Bath knows that the Tigers will have a tough time with the Crimson, who they edged 13-11 on March 22.

“That was a good game, similar to Yale,” said Bath. “They have seven-to-nine guys who can beat anyone. They have a great attack line, they are scoring a lot of goals. Coach [Jeremy] Hirsch always has a great game plan for these great offenses so if we stick to what he says, things work out.”

Princeton head coach Matt Madalon likes the work he has gotten from his senior group this season.

“It is a really cool senior class,” said Madalon. “They do such a good job of authentic leadership; it is not like in your face or abrasive. It is a very senior-led group. To be able to play this well and defend ’52 on Senior Day is awesome. Hopefully they keep this memory forever.”

Sophomore attacker Cole Burns was on fire in the early going against Yale assisting on two goals and scoring one in the early 4-0 Tiger run.

“They short-sticked him early and any time an attacker gets short-sticked early, he can take it a little personal,” said Madalon. “He really did a good job executing.”

The Princeton defense executed well as the Tigers built an 11-2 halftime lead.

“Holding them at two in the first half with one of them coming from a face-off goal that was a pretty good start for coach Hirsch’s group,” said Madalon, who got 19 saves on the day from goalie Croddick. “Croddick bailed us out in some of the moments where we didn’t play well which has been the story all season. He is pretty awesome.”

Madalon credited Bath with having some big moments against Yale.

“Michael was awesome, he is a leader and a captain,” said Madalon. “He takes the ball off guys. Every matchup he is on, they are super uncomfortable. He is a huge piece for us down there.”

Freshman midfielder Peter Buonanno is becoming a big piece for the Tiger offense. Coming off a three-goal effort in the win over Penn, Buonanno tallied a career-high four goals on Saturday.

“He is a really talented young guy, he came through the fall and battled injuries a little bit,” said Madalon. “Every day he gets better and finds his groove. We are really happy that he is playing good lacrosse right now.”

With 12 players getting on the scoresheet against the Bulldogs, Princeton is in a groove collectively.

“That is what you pray for, just coming into the game we wanted to play three lines,” said Madalon. “We knew it could be a little warmer today and we are not used to the heat. That was important for us and those guys stepped up. We had great ball movement offensively so I think that is just everybody.”

Princeton will need to step up again in order to overcome a high-powered Harvard team in the Ivy semi.

“Harvard is a great team, it is one of the best offenses in the country,” said Madalon of the No 11 Crimson (10-3 overall, 4-2 Ivy). “We got them here midseason; both teams are different and probably better. That is going to be a really hard one.”

While Princeton is bringing a seven-game winning streak into the postseason, Madalon knows that means nothing.

“That doesn’t matter, we are just trying to get the next one,” said Madalon. “We are trying to go upgrade season at this point, figure out where our deficiencies are, tighten them up and keep playing to our strengths as we try to get a full group healthy.”

Bath and his teammates are determined to take things one game at a time.

“What we were saying this week is that complacency kills this time of year,” said Bath. “Our main focus is to not get complacent. Now it is win or go home. This is a special group of 51 guys. The goal is to end in a pile but it is one step at a time. It starts next week with Harvard in Ithaca.”