Best team on campus plays on Lourie-Love Field

We all love football and we all love winners. Unfortunately for the last eight years, those two things have not gone hand-in-hand here at Princeton. The last time our beloved Tigers won an Ivy League title was in 1995. There has been no bonfire — used to celebrate victories over Harvard and Yale in the same season — since 1993. While this year's team is off to a 2-0 start, it doesn't appear that an Ivy League title or a bonfire is on the horizon.

To see a winner, however, we have to look no further than Lourie-Love Field and the women's soccer team, now 6-1 on the year.

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America has the Tigers ranked No. 11 in Division 1 in yesterday's poll. That's 11 out of 295 schools that participate in Division 1 women's soccer.

It gets better. Princeton has already beaten Texas A&M, 2-1, in its opening game of the season. The Aggies were ranked No. 9 in the poll released yesterday. The Tigers lone loss of the season came against Wake Forest, 1-0, in a game they could have and should have won.

The team has also allowed only two goals in their first seven games. That is tied for best in the nation with UC Riverside.

What's my point? This is the best athletic team at Princeton this fall and will probably prove to be the best overall team this year.

While it's true that men's and women's lacrosse along with women's lightweight crew will have better shots at winning national championships, these teams are competing against far fewer oppontents. In women's lacrosse there are only 77 teams in Division I, and on the men's side there are only 54 schools competing. In addition, many of the schools that are participating in lacrosse have very new programs, so even the numbers of 54 and 77 seem a bit inflated.

This is not to take away from either team, but to show the magnitude of women's soccer's accomplishment.

They are currently ranked ahead of schools such as Michigan, Kansas, Florida St., Tennessee, and Ohio St. These schools not only have huge recruiting pools, but they are also able to offer scholarships.

Head coach Julie Shackford and her squad have gotten the country's attention. They already have the attention of other coaches and players around the Ivy League. They deserve our attention as well.

This coming Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. you could be getting ready to listen to the football team battle Columbia, or you could head over to watch the No. 11-ranked team in the country take on Dartmouth. I know I'll be at Lourie-Love Field cheering on the best team at Princeton, but not without a radio plugged into my ear. What can I say, I'm a sucker for football.