Each week, Sports and Data writers 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 past By the Numbers coverage here.
Princeton Tigers: Sept. 20–Sept. 26
Twenty-six games and matches were played across nine sports and six U.S. states and the District of Columbia over the past week. Of the 12 games where only one team came out on top, the Tigers won 42 percent of matches, less than the 50 percent they won in their first week of competition. The Tigers performed far better at home than away, cruising to victory in their only home game — women’s rugby — while clinching a win only 36 percent of the time when on the road.
Multiple-day meets and tournaments are counted individually for each day of the competition. Competitions with more than one event or individual results such as golf and cross country are not included in our win percentage analysis.
Get low, get low
Riccardo Fantinelli continued his elite ball striking and talent around the pins this past weekend at Duke, shooting a school-record seven under par for men’s golf in the third and final round of the Rod Myers Invitational. The Rome native scored four straight birdies to storm up the leaderboard to finish tied for third.
“It’s also nice to shoot a low score on the final round and Duke’s golf course really suits my shot shape off the tee,” Fantinelli wrote to the Daily Princetonian. He attributed his hot finish to his putting and said he was “just glad I was able to stay patient.”
From Paris to Piscataway
Beth Yeager, a member of the USA field hockey team this summer in Paris, proved her Olympian pedigree by earning Ivy League Player of the Week. Yeager scored three goals and recorded two assists across the Tigers’ two wins over crosstown rivals, Rutgers and Penn.
Murder on the gym floor
After receiving the Ivy Player of the Week award last week for amassing 52 kills across three games, Kamryn Chaney had the most kills in a match by an Ivy League volleyball player in ten years at 34. Chaney’s rash of kills came at a .484 hit rate in women’s volleyball’s win over High Point University.
The summer of ’59
After going scoreless in a 93–0 loss to Dartmouth last weekend, women’s rugby earned their first program victory as a varsity team by beating Bowdoin 59–0 this weekend. Sophomore wing Celia Watson led the way with three tries and sophomore utility back Malinka Kwemo went seven for nine on kicking conversions.
“We were all super excited to get our first varsity 15s win; we’ve been working towards this goal since we first turned varsity, and it feels like all the effort and time that we’ve dedicated towards skillwork, watching film, taking care of our bodies, getting faster ... was finally paying off,” junior scrum half Kenzy Elshalzy wrote to the ‘Prince.’
She credits the team’s hunger for a win to the dominant final score.
“The difference is how much you want to win, and we wanted it so bad that we poured all of our energy out.”
Corner coroners
Men’s soccer has had an on and off start to their season so far this fall, opening with a 2–3 record; however, they currently lead the Ivy League in corner kicks per game. Clearly, the scoring opportunities are there, and it won’t take long for the goals to follow from junior midfielder Jack Jasinski’s high arcing entry balls.
Lack of quarterback attack
Princeton football struggled in their opening 35–20 loss at Lehigh in all facets of the game, from punting to the line of scrimmage, but the quarterback play was a major factor. Senior Blaine Hipa had a tough go of things in his first career start, grading out at the lowest passer efficiency of all eight Ivy quarterbacks in their first week.
California dreamin’ of hat tricks
No. 7 men’s water polo ended their weekend trip to the West Coast with a 14–12 victory over No. 10 Long Beach State University, headlined by two hat tricks by upperclass students. Junior and senior utilities Luke Johnston and Roko Pozaric each notched three goals in the team’s first top-ten win of the season.
“We are literally getting better every weekend, and we know we just need to stay consistent with that,” Johnston told the ‘Prince’ postgame.
The Tigers went two for four on the weekend foray to California.
All in all, it has been a week of traveling for the Tigers, especially for men’s water polo. As the semester progresses, fall sports will start to transition into conference play. Check back next week to stay updated on all things Princeton athletics — by the numbers.
Harrison Blank is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Amrit Vignesh is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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