The top 10 in Princeton sports: 2007-08

Field hockey beats No. 3 Connecticut

For the first time in five meetings between the field hockey team and perennial power Connecticut, the Tigers emerged victorious, 2-1, after senior Paige Schmidt scored the go-ahead goal with 14 minutes remaining.

“Being a senior, this is the fifth time I’ve played [Connecticut], and I just wanted to come away with a win once, and we finally did,” the three-time Ivy Player of the Year said after the win. “It was an amazing team effort.”

Princeton went on to win the Ivy League title before falling to UMass in the NCAA tournament play-in game.

XC sweeps Heps for second-straight season

Junior Michael Maag and sophomore Liz Costello took individual wins as the men’s and women’s cross country teams swept the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships for the second-straight season. The men’s score of 38 was far lower than second-place Columbia’s 67, while the women put five runners in the top nine to outpace the field with a low score of 25.

“It was just a great day for Princeton cross country,” Maag said. “And it was exciting having all the parents and alumni there to watch and celebrate [with both] the men’s and women’s teams.”

Volleyball sweeps Ivy League, goes to NCAAs

Led by junior outside hitter and Ivy League Player of the Year Parker Henritze’s stellar performance and senior libero Jenny McReynolds’ stalwart presence in the backcourt, the women’s volleyball team steamrolled the competition to become the first team in Ivy League history to finish 14-0 in league play.

“It feels really good to be undefeated,” junior middle blocker Lindsey Ensign said after the Tigers’ win in their Ivy finale.

Princeton made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000, but it lost a hotly contested four-game match to Delaware.

Michael Maag sets records, nearly breaks four-minute mile

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On Feb. 9, Maag broke a 17-year-old record in the 3,000 meters with a time of seven minutes, 56.40 seconds. A week later, the Portland, Oregon, native came within a hair of the illustrious four-minute mile, missing the mark by .43 seconds.

“It’s kind of cool to have a school record at a school that’s over 200 years old,” Maag said at the time. “Racing against history is something I try not to think about too much; it would probably mess with my head if I did.”

Maag suffered a few minor injuries in the subsequent spring track season, but he returns next season as the cross country team’s top runner, as the Tigers look to repeat as Heps champion.

Women’s squash wins another national title

Despite having lost to then-No. 1 Penn 5-4 in the regular season, the women’s squash team came back to defeat the Quakers 6-3 in front of a raucous Jadwin Gymnasium crowd to claim its second-straight Howe Cup. The Tigers defeated Yale and Brown in the first two rounds of the tournament before vanquishing Penn in the finals.

“I think that the previous loss to Penn actually made us stronger going into the finals,” sophomore Emery Maine said after the finals win. “We wanted it more, and we had learned from our mistakes and were determined to get revenge.”

Women’s indoor track wins Heps

After the 4x800m relay team gave the team the overall lead, freshman Tiffany Liu’s second-place triple jump sealed the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championship for the women’s track and field team, whose 114 points bested runner-up Brown by seven points. It was the first indoor Heps win for the team’s seniors.

“A lot of players performed their best ever, which was key to winning the meet,” senior captain Liz Bergold said after the historic win. “To finally win senior year, after coming in seventh freshman year, was great. It was clear that everyone was excited.”

Women’s swimming sends seven to NCAAs and three-peats as Ivy champ

Led by sophomore Alicia Aemisegger, who broke record after record at DeNunzio Pool this season, the women’s swim team took its third-straight Ivy League championship and in the process sent seven swimmers to the NCAA championships. Aemisegger was joined by 800 freestyle relay teammates freshman Meredith Monroe, senior Brett Shiflett and junior Justina DiFazio, while Aemisegger, Shiflett, senior Lisa Hamming, junior Monika Friedman and sophomore Courtney Kilkuts all qualified for individual events.

Men’s hockey wins ECAC tournament for the first time in 10 years

Following their emotional three-game series with Yale the first weekend of spring break in which the Tigers played in front of capacity crowds, Princeton headed to Albany for the ECAC semifinals. After defeating Colgate 3-0 the afternoon before, the Tigers faced off against Harvard. At the end of three periods, Princeton claimed a 4-1 victory, the ECAC tournament crown and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Sophomore goaltender Zane Kalemba was named ECAC tournament Most Outstanding Player, while junior forward Lee Jubinville and senior defenseman and captain Mike Moore were named ECAC Player of the Year and Defenseman of the Year, respectively. The Tigers, however, fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament to North Dakota.

OK, so we know these next two teams are still playing, and we aren’t trying to jinx anybody, but their accomplishments so far give us reason to recognize them.

Softball wins Ivy League with sweep of Harvard

Last weekend, the softball team swept Harvard to win the Ivy League title. Princeton started its season slow with a rough West Coast spring break trip but has won 22 of its last 27 games while only losing two games in the Ivy League. The Tigers find out their NCAA first-round opponent Sunday evening.

Women’s lightweight crew undefeated thus far

The No. 1 women’s lightweight crew’s defeat of Wisconsin last Saturday completed an undefeated regular season. The Tigers only have Eastern Sprints and the IRA Regatta in their way of completing a perfect season.