The big game on the East Coast this week is when the No. 15 ranked Princeton Tigers travel to Annapolis Md., to face the No. 17 Navy Midshipmen on Saturday Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. ET. This game will help determine who is the best team within the CWPA, and it is the likely matchup at the Southern Division championships in early November. This game is also a rematch of the 2011 Eastern Championships with Princeton won 10-7, and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
So far, Navy has not been challenged this year as they are 10-0 and are averaging 22.7 goals per game, and the Princeton game should be a very good game. Navy is known for their motion offense, and taking advantage of any mistake a team makes. They are led by Paul Pedrotty who has 32 goals and 14 assists, and there are six other players who have scored in double digits which is amazing in only 10 games.
The one concern that head coach Mike Schofield had coming into the year was losing some top end players, but the team is very deep and he feels that they can go 15 players deep and suffer minimal drop off.
Here is Navy previewing their weekend which also includes a game against Bucknell at 2 p.m. on Sept. 22:
As for Princeton they have played the tougher schedule and while they have a 5-3 record, their loses came against Cal and UCLA, both top five teams, and then losing 10-9 to Brown who is ranked No. 13 in the country. While Navy has been thoroughly dominate this year, Princeton has won games but not in the same dominating fashion as Navy.
Stopping Navy's offense, which is a never-ending motion style of play, will be difficult for Princeton. However, by playing much tougher competition, Princeton should be able to handle that offense as well as they physical play that Navy is known for. Defense will be the key for the Tigers if they are going to get past the Midshipmen on the road this weekend.
Here is Princeton's preview of this weekends games:
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