With a spot in the NCAA Championships on the line, the women's cross country team easily outran its competition at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships on Saturday.
The men's basketball team will open its out-of-conference schedule by hosting Drexel in the first round of the preseason National Invitational Tournament.
"I don't really know what these guys are going to do."If there has ever been a Princeton men's basketball team about which this could be said ? by its head coach, no less ? it is Joe Scott's 2005-06 squad."These guys," Scott '87 continued, "are going to show what they are going to do."After all, what good is speculation when, just last year, Scott watched his Tigers post their first losing Ivy League record in school history following a preseason laden with talk of a league title?What kind of forecast can be made about a team that features one lone senior and just four other players who spent more than 80 minutes on the court last season?One might quip, "Not a very good one," but then again, Princeton was picked to finish third in the standings in the Ivy League preseason media poll.So, while sharing his outlook for this season ? which starts tonight at Jadwin Gym against Drexel ? Scott dodged the hype and revealed that his only concern is internal improvement."I think the big mistake that I made last year was talking about all that B.S.," Scott said of last year's talk about an Ivy crown.
Eight months after its disappointing 2004-05 season came to end, the men's basketball team begins a new season tonight with a clean slate ? and plenty of unanswered questions ? hosting Drexel in the first round of the 2005 NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament.With Will Venable, Judson Wallace and the rest of the Class of 2005 graduated, the Tigers' biggest challenge will be lighting up the scoreboard.
There is something comforting about the sight of a few players flanking their coach as he arrives at the postgame press conference after a loss.
For the diehard Princeton sports fans, Saturday was a rough day. As the clock wound down at Princeton Stadium, the action was just getting underway at a packed Lourie-Love Field.
The first time the field hockey squad stormed the field Saturday afternoon, it was in joy. The second time, the Tigers' sprint off the bench was motivated by frustration and anger.After 70 minutes of regulation play left the game knotted at one, Princeton (9-9 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) and Duke (16-4) went to sudden-death overtime to decide which team would advance past the first round of the NCAA tournament.With 12 minutes left in the first overtime period, the Tigers thought they had recorded the game-winning goal, but it was disallowed by the referees.
At the start of the men's basketball season two years ago, juniors Freddy Flaxman, Jonah Perlin and John Boscia ? then freshmen ? were surprised to find only about 20 students in attendance at a game in Jadwin Gym.
For all the attention given to the world-famous "Princeton Offense," the Tigers' unique defensive system will play just as big of a role in determining the fate of the men's basketball team this season.Once again, Princeton will employ a matchup-zone defense this year.
Want to make Joe Scott '87 smile?Don't ask him about backdoor cuts and defensive shifts. Don't ask him about Quakers and Elis.Ask him about his kids.He'll talk about his four-year-old son Ben, beaming as he recalls how Ben managed to stand up on his waterskis this summer at the Jersey Shore.He'll talk about his two-year-old son Jack, even grinning as he explains that he does diaper duty in the mornings.Yes, Scott smiles plenty ? just rarely on the basketball court."This persona everyone sees and thinks I have, it's really just the opposite," he says.
This year, the women's basketball program is completely unified in both its composition and its focus for the first time in over three years.With the preseason poll ranking Princeton third in the Ivy League, behind first-place Dartmouth and second-place Harvard, the players have but one aspiration ? a league title."From the first person to the trainers to the managers, I feel like we all have one goal, which is to win Ivies," sophomore center Ariel Rogers said.
For the diehard Princeton sports fans, Saturday was a rough day. As the clock wound down at Princeton Stadium, the action was just getting underway at a packed Lourie-Love Field.
With a spot in the NCAA Championships on the line, the women's cross country team easily outran its competition at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships on Saturday.
The last time sophomore center Harrison Schaen put on a jersey emblazoned with the Princeton Tiger, he was a precocious freshman playing off the bench in the men's basketball team's 66-49 loss to Texas in the first round of the 2004 NCAA tournament.
The football team's dreams of an Ivy League title and a bonfire went up in smoke Saturday afternoon, leaving the Tigers shaking their heads and wondering what might have been."We had our chances to get the 'W,' and we didn't pull it out," senior cornerback Jay McCareins said as he slowly trudged away from the locker room, eyes bleary.
"I don't really know what these guys are going to do."If there has ever been a Princeton men's basketball team about which this could be said ? by its head coach, no less ? it is Joe Scott's 2005-06 squad."These guys," Scott '87 continued, "are going to show what they are going to do."After all, what good is speculation when, just last year, Scott watched his Tigers post their first losing Ivy League record in school history following a preseason laden with talk of a league title?What kind of forecast can be made about a team that features one lone senior and just four other players who spent more than 80 minutes on the court last season?One might quip, "Not a very good one," but then again, Princeton was picked to finish third in the standings in the Ivy League preseason media poll.So, while sharing his outlook for this season ? which starts tonight at Jadwin Gym against Drexel ? Scott dodged the hype and revealed that his only concern is internal improvement."I think the big mistake that I made last year was talking about all that B.S.," Scott said of last year's talk about an Ivy crown.
This year, the women's basketball program is completely unified in both its composition and its focus for the first time in over three years.With the preseason poll ranking Princeton third in the Ivy League, behind first-place Dartmouth and second-place Harvard, the players have but one aspiration ? a league title."From the first person to the trainers to the managers, I feel like we all have one goal, which is to win Ivies," sophomore center Ariel Rogers said.
The first time the field hockey squad stormed the field Saturday afternoon, it was in joy. The second time, the Tigers' sprint off the bench was motivated by frustration and anger.After 70 minutes of regulation play left the game knotted at one, Princeton (9-9 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) and Duke (16-4) went to sudden-death overtime to decide which team would advance past the first round of the NCAA tournament.With 12 minutes left in the first overtime period, the Tigers thought they had recorded the game-winning goal, but it was disallowed by the referees.
When an Ivy League team loses five seniors, including two three-time all-Ivy selections and four of its top seven scorers, and is still picked to finish third in the Ancient Eight, either the other Ivies have decided to field squads of individuals with mascot aspirations or that team must be pretty confident that its underclassmen can pick up the slack.
The pundits have spoken, and the Ivy League announced last Thursday that the women's basketball team is expected to end the season in third place.
