The softball team completed its most successful season since 1996 as it won its 13th Ivy League title in the 22 years Princeton has competed in the sport.
The Tigers finished with a 13-1 record in league play, one game better than second place Harvard. It was the highest conference win total in the team's history.
Princeton (34-18 overall, 13-1 Ivy League) made its way to NCAA Regionals but lost its first two games of the double-elimination tournament to finish the season with a 34-18 record.
Princeton had many leaders on and off the field, but the MVP of this team was clearly pitcher Brie Galicinao '02. Galicinao won her second straight Ivy League Pitcher of the Year award and made All-Ivy first team for the third straight year.
Galicinao finished the year fourth in the league with an ERA of only 1.34 and was fifth in the league in hitting with a .355 batting average.
She also did whatever the team needed to try and get the win. When the Princeton offense was struggling early in the season, Galicinao agreed to move to the leadoff spot to try and jumpstart the offense. The move had immediate results.
In addition, in the NCAA Regionals game against Minnesota, Galicinao threw the team on her back and tried to single-handedly win the game. She struck out 11 Golden Gophers and allowed only one earned run, but the Tigers still fell 2-1.
Princeton also got timely contributions from many members of the class of 2005. The four freshmen who were regular starters on the team were shortstop Kristin Lueke, third baseman Becky Nemec, pitcher Melissa Finley and catcher Ty Ries, each of who made huge contributions for the Tigers and helped to fill in the gaps that were missing from last year's team, which finished fourth in the league.
Finley split time with hurler Wendy Bingham '04 in the second starter's role behind Galicinao. They were both up to the challenge, as Bingham finished with an ERA of 1.70 and Finley at 2.40.
The Tigers started the year with their traditional difficult non-conference schedule against teams from some of the best conferences in the country. Princeton took part in invitational tournaments in Kansas and Georgia and came home with a 10-12 record. The Tigers then promptly won 12 of their next 13, including their first six contests in Ivy League play.
At 6-0, Princeton traveled to Cambridge, Mass., to play a critical doubleheader against Harvard, the only other undefeated team left in the Ivy League. The Tigers earned a split with the Crimson to move into a tie for first. The two teams continued to mow through the competition. Princeton followed the split with a 10-game winning streak. That streak including winning their last six Ivy contests to finish with a 13-1 league mark.
However, Harvard still needed to lose one more game so that Princeton could enjoy the title outright. Cornell took care of it — beating Harvard, 5-1, in the first game of a doubleheader.The Tigers were then sent to Minnesota for the NCAA Regionals, which consist of eight divisions with six teams each. Princeton received the No. 4 seed. Its bracket also included national powerhouse Arizona. Princeton suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in its first game against Minnesota.
The Tigers were eliminated from the tournament when they fell 3-0 in a sloppy game against the Penn State Nittany Lions. All three of the runs were unearned.
"We have a lot to be proud of and this year's team was the beginning of something great," Coach Maureen Davies '97 said.
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