Ivy League Player of the Year Josh Sims and Matt Striebel each tallied two goals and two assists to lead third-seeded Princeton (11-2) past sixth-seeded Maryland (11-5) 10-7 in the NCAA quarterfinals at Rutgers Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers will face second-seeded Virginia this Saturday to determine who will play the winner of the Syracuse-Johns Hopkins game for the championship at Byrd Stadium, home field of the University of Maryland.
Maryland opened up the game with a goal by captain Brian Zeller, but the Tigers quickly responded with goals by Sims and Sean Hartofilis to close the quarter up 2-1. Hartofilis was one of four freshmen to score in the game for Princeton.
Sims scored just thirty seconds into the second period and Zeller followed up with a goal of his own three minutes later to again bring the game within one. The Tigers broke the game open, however, with three consecutive goals to end the half with a comfortable 6-2 lead.
The second half started the same way the first ended, as Princeton scored three goals in the opening 10 minutes to extend its lead to seven. The two teams swapped goals in the final minutes of the third period to bring the game to a 10-3 Tiger advantage.
Maryland fought back in the fourth, scoring three goals in the first half of the quarter, including two by Chris Malone. The Terps scored again with 5:57 left on the clock, but were shut out the remainder of the game.
Malone led the Terps with two goals and two assists, while Zeller added an assist to his two goals. Goalie Pat McGinnis had 15 saves in 59 minutes of play.
Striebel was helped out by fellow freshmen Brendan Tierney and Brad Dumont, each of whom contributed a goal and an assist on the day. Tiger goalkeeper Trevor Tierney made nine stops.
This year marks Princeton's seventh Final Four berth in the past nine years. They have won a total of five NCAA titles.
