Each week, Sports and Data editors at The Daily Princetonian analyze recent athletic competitions to provide analysis and insight on the happenings of Princeton athletics and individual players across the 38 intercollegiate teams at Princeton. Whether they are record-breaking or day-to-day, statistics deliver information in concise ways and help inform fans who might have missed the action. Read the past two By the Numbers articles about indoor track and field success and recent Ivy League titles.
Princeton Tigers Feb. 15–Feb. 22
Thirty-four games and matches were played across 18 sports and six U.S. states over the past week. Nine of these were track and field meets, swimming and diving meets, and golf matches, which are counted individually for each day of the competition. These were not included in the win percentage analysis as there is no winner of the meet overall, only of individual events.
Of the remaining 25 games, the Tigers won 17, a win percentage of 68 percent. The Tigers won 75 percent of their games when away compared to just 62 percent at home. This is an increase from last week,the Tigers winning 57 percent of their games both home and away. The Tigers won 89 percent of games within the Ivy League.
Tennis testing top thirty
Men’s tennis and women’s tennis each landed high in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s rankings after wins this past week. Now No. 31 men’s tennis swept the Brown Bears, Yale Bulldogs, and Penn Quakers and were recognized in the rankings accordingly. Victories for No. 30 women’s tennis over the Cornell Big Red and the Brown Bears gave the ladies their own bump in the rankings.
Fabulous five for the first-year
In the No. 9 women’s water polo’s victory over the San Diego State Aztecs on Sunday, first-year utility Olivia Krotts cashed in five times, accounting for over a third of the Tigers’ goals on the day. Krotts is the second Tiger this year to put five shots past the goalie in a game, joining junior utility Kayla Yelensky, who has accomplished that feat twice.
Iron Man mush
Senior guard Matt “Mush” Allocco ’24 has been a permanent fixture on the Jadwin Gymnasium court for the Tigers over their last two games. In victories over the Brown Bears and the Yale Bulldogs, Allocco played all 80 minutes and won Ivy League Player of the Week. Allocco epitomizes the men’s basketball team — a team that ranks last in the nation in bench minutes, refusing to leave the court in the pivotal last games of the season.
Four-tifying their ranking
This week marks the fourth straight week the No. 25th-ranked women’s basketball team is ranked in the AP poll. A close win over the Brown Bears and a drubbing of the Yale Bulldogs solidified the Tigers’ place among the nation’s best.
Frightening fifty-five
Men’s volleyball has faced off against Penn State 64 times since becoming a varsity sport in 1997. The Tigers have emerged victorious only nine times — 14 percent. This past week, men’s volleyball played Penn State twice, losing 1–3 on Feb. 16, and 0–3 on Feb. 17.
Volleyball matches are played in best-of-five sets. Princeton last won a match against Penn State in 2022, winning 3–2 in the EIVA playoffs. Princeton won the EIVA championship two matches later.
Hundred helping hands
This past weekend, women’s hockey superstar senior forward and gold medalist Sarah Fillier netted five goals in two games where the Tigers tied the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers 3–3 and defeated the Union College Garnet Chargers 5–1. Her performance was good enough for ECAC forward of the week.
Fillier is climbing up the women’s hockey assist record books. Fillier recorded her 100th career assist during the win against Union College. She now trails only Katherine Issel ’95, who has 122 career apples (assists), on the all-time list.
First-year firsts
Men’s hockey first-year forwards Michael Young and Carson Buydens each scored their first career goal in the Tigers’ 3–4 loss to the RPI Engineers last Friday night. Young and Buydens had each recorded an assist prior, but now they can say they’ve scored in Baker Rink.
Fast and Furious first-years
First-year attacker tandem of Colin Burns and Nate Kabiri each produced hat tricks in both of the No. 11 men’s lacrosse team first two games over the Monmouth Hawks and the Manhattan Jaspers. Kabiri and Burns played together in high school at Georgetown Prep, where they were the third and twentieth ranked recruits in the Class of 2027. They both are chasing the record of 41 set by Tigers lacrosse legend Michael Sowers ’20 for most goals in a season by a first-year.
Twelve non-varsity finishers
On Feb. 18, Princeton’s men’s and women’s varsity teams competed at the Princeton Invitational alongside members of the Princeton Running Club. This was the final meet before the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships on Feb. 24–25.
Former USG vice-presidential candidate and running club member Warren Shepherd ’27 finished third in the men’s 1000 meter run with a time of 2:43.72. No Princeton Track and Field members competed in this event.
Board man gets paid
Sophomore forward Caden Pierce continues to secure all the missed shots forced by men’s basketball’s stout defense. His 28.5 percent defensive rebounding rate — total individual defensive rebounds divided by team defensive rebounds plus opponent offensive rebounds — places him eighth nationally, above national player of the year candidates Hunter Dickinson (Kansas) and Zach Edey (Purdue), who are both over seven inches taller than the 6 feet 7 inches Pierce.
All in all, it was an especially successful week for Tiger athletics within the Ivy League. Winter sports approach their respective postseasons, and spring sports kicked off against non-conference opponents. Check back next week to stay updated on all things Princeton athletics — by the numbers.
Remember, as Lou Pinella, former coach of the New York Yankees, once said, “Statistics are a lot like bikinis, they show a lot but not everything.”
Andrew Bosworth is a Sports contributor and head Data editor for the ‘Prince.’
Harrison Blank is an assistant editor for the Sports section at the ‘Prince.’
Please send all corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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