After playing most of its season in a daze, the men's hockey team finally woke up in the past few weeks to see if it could make something of its berth in the Eastern College Athletic Association tournament.
What the men's volleyball team did this past weekend goes beyond what any typical sports terminology is equipped to handle.
Even though they missed out on this weekend's better-than-average weather, the members of the women's water polo team were not that disappointed.
The results of the women's basketball team's two games this weekend illustrate the unpredictable nature of Ivy League women's hoops.First, on Friday, the Tigers (9-18 overall, 4-9 Ivy League) fell at Cornell, 64-50, even though they had narrowly defeated the Big Red on Feb.
"The boys are back in town." This quote adorns the cover of the 2002-2003 Penn men's basketball media guide.
After splitting the season series with Yale, women's hockey played the Eastern College Athletic Conference quarterfinals like it had something to prove.Princeton more than proved it, blowing out the Bulldogs, 6-2, Friday and 8-0 Saturday to sweep the best-of-three series and advance to the conference semifinals.Trying to make amends for an upset loss on their home ice to Harvard a year ago, the Tigers (20-8-2) got two goals from senior forward Andrea Kilbourne as they cruised to a 6-2 win in game one.Third-seeded Princeton dominated play early, not allowing sixth-seeded Yale (9-20-2) to get a shot on goal until five minutes, 33 seconds had elapsed in the first period.Kilbourne scored her first at 11:59 in the opening period.
"My back," "my foot," "my French horn" ? these were Princeton fencing's real opponents at this weekend's Mid-Atlantic/South Regionals.
Yale women's hockey would have been better off staying on the bus this weekend. The Bulldogs stopped by Baker Rink for their Eastern College Athletic Conference quarterfinal series with the Tigers, and the Orange and Black promptly booted them from contention with degrading 6-2 and 8-0 wins.Senior forward Andrea Kilbourne led the way for Princeton with two goals and two assists in the 6-2 win Friday.
Men's swimming saved its best for last. But for the first time this year, its fastest wasn't enough.For the Tigers, it was a heartbreaking end to an outstanding season.
Every season, the men's lacrosse team opens by playing Johns Hopkins, Virginia, and Syracuse in the opening weeks before the Ivy season gets under way.Seeing as these teams are always among the elite in the nation, these games are an important measuring stick for how much improvement is needed.Tierney was not able to test his best lineup Saturday as the Tigers faced No.
When a team wins 20 games in a row, that team is undeniably beyond good. A winning streak leads this team to forget what it is to lose.But winning streaks, like all good things, must end.This sad fact was the case for the women's lacrosse team Sunday afternoon.
At the beginning of the weekend, there was hope. Though a long shot at best, the men's basketball team clung to the possibility of a share in the Ivy League regular season title.With three games left for both the Tigers and conference-leading Penn, and a three game spread in the standings, Princeton needed to win out its last three contests and pray that the Quakers would lose both games this weekend before the season finale at Jadwin Gym this Tuesday.Friday night, the Tigers (16-10 overall, 10-3 Ivy League) held up their end of the bargain with a gutsy 71-61 victory over visiting Cornell (9-18, 4-10).Penn did not cooperate with Princeton's hopes, beating winless Columbia 63-39, and mathematically eliminating the Tigers from the Ivy League race.The Quakers' triumph over Cornell the following night knocked Brown out of contention and, in the process, secured Penn's second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.On Friday, when Princeton was still fighting for its postseason life, the squad played hard and played well.
For the past three seasons, there has been just one tough question in men's college lacrosse: would the National Championship fall into the hands of Syracuse or Princeton?This year, however, the questions abound and answers are impossible to decipher.Last weekend, in the first full week of lacrosse, No.
"The problem with the defense [in Saturday's loss to Johns Hopkins] was me," men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney said.It was an ironic statement, seeing as how it came from the mouth of a man who was recently inducted into the United States Lacrosse Hall of Fame as one of the greatest coaches the sport has ever known.On the surface, a lacrosse coach blaming himself for his team's ineffective defensive performance sounds self-deprecating, something only a coach without the foggiest idea about what he is doing would admit.
At this point in the season it is no longer make-or-break.Playing this weekend to hold on to fifth place in the Ivy League, the more appropriate term for the women's basketball team's situation is salvage-or-junk.The Tigers (9-16 overall, 4-7 Ivy League) will take on Cornell (9-16, 3-9) tonight in Ithaca, and then travel to Columbia to face the Lions (10-15, 3-9) Saturday night.Both Cornell and Columbia are currently locked in a three-way tie for sixth place with Yale, just a game and a half behind the Tigers.
The women's lacrosse season is 16 games long. Princeton lacrosse fans will not have to wait that long to forecast their team's chances to repeat as national champions, however.
"I know the Syracuse men beat Princeton," George Bush told the 2002 Syracuse men's national championship team earlier this year, "it's lucky you didn't play the women."The president of the United States was not exaggerating.
A year ago, women's hockey captured home-ice advantage in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs, only to lose the best-of-three series in a sweep to Harvard.This year, Princeton ? the third seed in the ECAC tournament ? is back at Baker Rink for round one, and the collapse against the Crimson is a distant memory.Sixth-seeded Yale visits campus for this year's best-of-three conference quarterfinal starting tonight, continuing Saturday and, if necessary, Sunday.
The wrestling team goes to the mat this weekend as part of the oldest and most revered wrestling tournament in the nation.
If you thought the road would get any easier for the men's lacrosse team after last week's painful 10-8 loss to Johns Hopkins, think again.Tomorrow, No.
