When the 2010 edition of the football team steps onto the field at Lehigh on Saturday under the direction of a man whose last outing for the squad was two decades ago, it will represent the beginning of a new era.
The women’s soccer team is off to a strong start this season and is currently on a three-game winning streak, its first since the 2008 season.Next up for Princeton (3-1) is a game against Long Island (4-1-1) tonight at Myslik Field. So far this season, Long Island has beaten Hartford, Hawaii, Longwood and Fordham, while tying Harvard 2-2. The Tigers are expecting a tough game from the Blackbirds.
The field hockey team already has three wins under its belt, but for a team with its sights set on a national championship, this weekend might as well be viewed as its second season opener. The No. 4 Tigers (3-0) face off against Dartmouth (4-0), their first Ivy League opponent, on Friday night. Then, on Sunday afternoon, Princeton will take on its first ranked rival, No. 8 Syracuse (4-2).
After the strong ending to last year’s men’s soccer season, in which Princeton went undefeated in its last seven regular-season games, the team had hoped to keep up that momentum this year. However, after two straight early season losses, the Tigers (1-2) find themselves in a hole and face their toughest test yet, a match against Georgetown (2-2-0) under Friday night lights at Roberts Stadium.
Propelled by last year’s unprecedented success and this year’s fresh talent, the men’s water polo team is roaring into the season. After dropping the season opener to Cal Baptist, the Tigers capitalized on their conditioning and battled back to win their next three games in convincing fashion.
The men’s golf team is looking to improve on its seventh-place finish in the Ivy League last season, led by lone senior Eric Salazar.
Coming off a 16-3 season that ended with a loss in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, the field hockey team has begun its season with three strong victories.The No. 4 Tigers (3-0 overall) have already defeated Bucknell, Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth and are looking forward to making another run at the program’s first national championship. Princeton will also look to take home the Ivy League title for the 16th time in the past 17 years.
After ending the historic season that featured its first back-to-back Ivy League titles and a tough loss to a quality Virginia team in the NCAA tournament, the women’s tennis team entered the offseason on a high note. The team has experienced some controversy lately, though, as news broke last week that the NCAA will penalize the University for a “major violation” of NCAA rules involving the women’s team.
After averaging a league-low 12.9 points per game in 2009, the football team is ready to pick up the pace. A new coaching staff brings with it a fresh, high-octane offensive system that the Tigers hope will lead to an improvement on last year’s 4-6 record.
Last year, the men’s water polo team defeated then-No. 12 Navy in Cambridge, Mass. to clinch the Eastern Championships title. It was one of the high points of a 16-12 season that, despite numerous injuries, saw the Tigers win their first Eastern title since 2004 and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, where they finished third by toppling then-No. 6 Loyola Marymount.
Only one short year after the women’s volleyball team kicked off its schedule with three winless preseason tournaments, the Tigers are entering their final preseason tournament this year with a winning record and higher hopes for an Ivy League Championship season. The Tigers were already three weeks into Ivy League play last year when they got their fourth win, but this year’s squad already has four wins under its belt, including a win over George Mason last weekend that avenged a loss last fall.
While other students were packing up and moving back to campus this fall, the women’s soccer team was already slaying its foes on the pitch. After a tough 2009 campaign, the Tigers look to improve this year both overall and in the Ivy League.
With first-year head coach Bob Surace ’90 having just completed an intense, fitness-focused training camp for players both returning and new, many are waiting with anticipation to see the debut of what will surely be a markedly different football team from those of years past. Though Princeton was tagged to finish only sixth in the Ivy League in this year’s preseason media poll, there’s no telling what surprises and unexpected achievements Surace’s fresh approach might bring to the program. What is certain, however, is that if the Tigers hope to improve upon last season’s 4-6 record and have a shot at finishing in the top half of the Ivy League, they’ll have to do so by defeating a series of tough opponents — many of whom are looking sharper and more adept than ever.
Although students are just now crawling wearily into lecture halls and seminar rooms, the men’s and women’s cross country teams have already gained momentum for their respective seasons. Stocked with both collegiate veterans and fresh talents, the two teams kicked off their seasons at last Saturday’s Spiked Shoe Invitational in University Park, Pa., where the men took first and the women came in second. Despite an intense schedule, both coaches and athletes are feeling optimistic, with strong starts to their seasons.
The men’s soccer team is coming into the new season full of expectation following last year’s successful campaign in which the squad grabbed third place in the Ivy League and reached the first round of the NCAA tournament.
What can help the newly minted 2010 football team turn over a new leaf? Turnovers.As senior tri-captain and inside linebacker Steven Cody pointed out, the new coaching staff has brought a fresh look to the defense, and one key aspect of this new system involves forcing more fumbles and making more interceptions than in recent years.
The University was pronounced guilty of a “major violation” of NCAA rules Wednesday, in a case in which an alumnus contributed roughly $33,000 for a women’s tennis player’s tuition, room and board during the 2007-08 academic year, and the fall of 2008.
Roughly 11 months after he last donned the Tiger orange and black, senior co-captain and running back Jordan Culbreath is once again in action with the football team. Culbreath missed all but two games last season after a diagnosis of aplastic anemia, but his remarkable recovery led him back to a team that is thrilled to see its star rusher in good health.
While most students still have a few days before they return to campus for the new school year, fall varsity athletes have already found their way back to Princeton to start preseason training. With the beginning of the fall seasons just a few weeks away and some exciting stories on the horizon, we bring you the final installment of this summer’s athletics highlights.
With just less than two months until classes start again, we bring you the first half of summer’s Princeton athletics highlights.
