PRINCETON, N.J. - Sophomore Tommy Bourque recorded a hat trick but the No. 13/12 Boston University men's lacrosse team fell to No. 9 and fifth-seeded Princeton, 12-5, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at Sherrerd Field.

Sophomore Christian Quadrino and junior Robert Gallop also found the back of the net for the Terriers while senior Jett Dziama, junior Thomas Niedringhaus and senior Nik McFarland added one assist apiece. Junior Roy Meyer caused four turnovers and gathered six ground balls to lead the Terrier defense. Juniors Patrick Morrison and Vince D'Alto tallied two caused turnovers apiece, with D'Alto adding five ground balls. Senior Matt Garber made nine saves, with the final two Princeton goals coming while he was out of the cage.

BU finished its ninth season with a 12-5 record, matching its best-ever record first achieved in 2017. The Terriers won their first-ever Patriot League regular-season and tournament titles en route to their first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Princeton opened the scoring 2:45 into the contest and then doubled its lead with 9:59 left in the first quarter.
• The Tigers added two more goals to take a 4-0 lead into the second stanza.
• Princeton had a man-up chance early in the second frame to try and extend its lead, but Morrison forced a turnover and BU got the clear.
• Bourque then capitalized on the chance when he ran down the right alley and ripped home a goal.
• The Tigers responded with two straight goals to push the lead to 6-1.
• Quadrino got a goal back with 6:04 left in the second quarter to create a 6-2 halftime score.
• Bourque's second strike of the day stopped a 2-0 Princeton run to open the half, but the Tigers answered to create a 9-3 score entering the fourth quarter.
• Princeton extended the lead to 10-3 just 49 seconds into 
• Gallop gave BU life just 1:05 after that Princeton goal when he took a feed from Dziama in transition and scored his first goal of the season.
• Bourque then completed his hat trick with 11:38 to play off another goal in transition. McFarland found him with a home run pass and Bourque had time and room to fire the shot past Erik Peters.
• That was the last time BU beat Peters, however, as both defenses continued to play well.
• The Tigers scored twice in a span of 46 seconds to seal the game, with both goals coming while BU had Garber out of the cage to try and force a turnover.

GAME NOTES

• Meyer finished his impressive season with 58 caused turnovers and 81 ground balls.
• His 58 caused turnovers is the most by any NCAA player since 2013 and the second-most of any NCAA player since it became an official stat in 2010.
• BU went 22-for-24 on clears and forced three failed clears by Princeton.
• Bourque finished the year with nine goals over his last four games, including eight goals in the postseason.
• This was the first time that the D'Alto had been held without a point in his terrific career.
• Senior Timmy Ley's NCAA-best 38-game goal scoring streak came to an end, as did D'Alto's 29-game goal streak.
• The two teams were a combined 0-for-11 on EMOs, with BU holding the Tigers to an 0-for-5 mark.