Princeton (8-3 overall) will face a total of eight teams in the weeklong trip, including several top-ranked opponents: No. 10 Loyola Marymount, No. 11 Cal State Northridge, No. 17 Long Beach State University and No. 18 Cal State Bakersfield. The Tigers will also face Concordia, Whittier, Colorado State and Chapman.
“Our coach said explicitly that our three goals are to get better, win some games and have fun,” senior center defender and captain Liz Dilday said. “Right now we’re really well-conditioned, and we’ve been working on some new plays, and I think we’re excited to go in an outdoor pool, and we hope that will show in our style of play.”
The Tigers will head to the West Coast with something to prove, as they have been on and off the top-20 rankings list all season. Though they have only lost to ranked opponents, the tough loss to Maryland earlier in the season knocked Princeton off the list. A couple of wins against ranked opponents this coming week would help to re-establish Princeton’s name on the national scene.
Junior utility Helen Meigs, who leads the Tigers in goals and assists, has been a crucial player for Princeton this season. Meigs has 20 goals and 16 assists and currently stands as the only player to have double-double stats this season. Following close behind is junior utility Phoebe Champion, who has tallied 18 goals this season, drawn a team high of 18 ejections and gone 23-26 on sprints.
Sophomore goalie Christina Michel and freshman goalie Kristen Ward have split time between the pipes this season, combining for 114 saves. Together, they have averaged 6.5 goals allowed per game, while the offense currently averages 9.8 goals per game.
“We’ve been playing great team defense so far, but our challenge has been finishing our plays and finishing our shots,” Dilday said. We’ve put in some good time in practice and we should be ready to make some strides in that next week. We have good team chemistry, but we will continue to try and perfect this in the future.”
Princeton will kick off the LMU Invitational on Saturday morning against Northridge (8-12), which comes into the matchup with plenty of experience this season against top-15 squads. The Matadors will begin the Invitational a week after turning in a second-place performance at the Cal Lutheran Invitational, in which they fell to No. 3 UCLA in the final.
Later that day, the Tigers will face Colorado State, a team they met for the first time last year and defeated 12-6, in a contest that should be less of a challenge than the earlier matchup.
Sunday will be the toughest day of the week, as Princeton will face Bakersfield (10-7) in the morning and LMU (7-4) in the evening. The Tigers are 1-0 against Bakersfield, having earned a close 10-9 victory over the Roadrunners last year. Champion and Meigs led the team in that game, scoring four and three goals, respectively.
Princeton is 1-5 against LMU, with its only victory coming during the 1998 season when the Tigers edged the Lions 3-1. Five of the past six matchups have been single-digit games, four of them decided by three or fewer goals. LMU has wins over No. 15 Michigan and No. 9 UC Irvine. Princeton suffered its worst defeat of the season with a 12-5 loss to the Wolverines in March.
The Tigers will round out their final four games of the week against an assortment of Southern California opponents, starting with a Tuesday afternoon match against Concordia (2-4). The Eagles finished their season last year 8-13 overall, reaching the quarterfinals at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ National Invitational in the postseason. This will be the first time in program history that the teams have met.
Princeton will then face No. 16 Long Beach State (6-11) on Wednesday evening, when the Tigers will hope to pick up their first win against the 49ers. Princeton is 0-4 all-time against Long Beach State. Two of those losses were one-point decisions.
For the final two games of the week, the Tigers will face Whittier (2-4) and Chapman (3-6), both for the first time. Neither team has wins over any ranked or previously ranked opponents this year, so these should be a good opportunities for the Tigers to pick up victories.
Crucial to the team’s success will be improved six-on-five offense, something the Tigers have lacked all season. Princeton has had 79 man-advantage opportunities this season but has only converted 33 for points. Increasing the percentage of six-on-five conversions is crucial, as two of the three losses this season have been determined by two goals, and four of the eight wins have been by two or fewer points.
The Tigers will have a week after spring break to prepare for their conference games, the first of which will be against Bucknell on March 28.
Read More
Starting pitcher Sean Episcope taken at 155 by Milwaukee Brewers in MLB draft
Joseph UglialoroAfter two seasons at Princeton plagued by injury, sophomore Sean Episcope will now be hoping to take his talents to Major League Baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers.
After two seasons at Princeton plagued by injury, sophomore Sean Episcope will now be hoping to take his talents to Major League Baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Princeton catcher Jake Bold signs with hometown San Diego Padres
Joseph UglialoroFollowing three individually successful years with the Tigers, catcher Jake Bold will try to take his talents to the big leagues after signing with the San Diego Padres.
Following three individually successful years with the Tigers, catcher Jake Bold will try to take his talents to the big leagues after signing with the San Diego Padres.
With Pierce to sit out the year, men’s basketball loses last senior standing
Harrison BlankSenior forward Caden Pierce announced today that he will be sitting out his senior season of basketball at Princeton in the interests of maintaining his final year of eligibility.
Senior forward Caden Pierce announced today that he will be sitting out his senior season of basketball at Princeton in the interests of maintaining his final year of eligibility.