Princeton’s George Baughan, the freshman defenseman who shut out the nation’s top scorer in the Tigers’ 14-8 upset of then-No. 8 Cornell on Saturday, is the Warrior/US Lacrosse Player of the Week.
Baughan held Cornell sophomore sensation Jeff Teat — who torched Princeton for 12 points last year and came in with an NCAA Division I-leading 87 points on the season — without a goal or assist while causing four turnovers. Moreover, Baughan actually outscored Teat, netting his first career goal in the victory.
The Tigers put Baughan on Teat at the outset and never deviated from that plan, as Baughan shadowed Teat for the entire game and held the attackman to just one shot.
The win wasn’t enough to propel Princeton into the Ivy League tournament. Brown’s win over Dartmouth sealed that fate. But the future looks bright after the Tigers finished the season on a five-game winning streak and with the emergence of Baughan on defense, plus Chris Brown and Phillip Robertson alongside All-American Michael Sowers on attack. All of those players are either freshmen or sophomores.