Editor's Note: This is the sixth in a series of postcards that The Daily Princetonian sports staff writers wrote about their experiences in the wide world of sports this summer.
I was wrong.Three weeks ago, I predicted a 4-6 season for the football team, writing that "another 5-5 season is the best the Tigers can possibly hope for."Oops.A brief digression before I begin eating my words: Sports writers are often criticized ? and fairly so ? for being quick to second-guess coaches and players.
Led by the record-setting performance of senior Cack Ferrell, the women's varsity cross country team outran Harvard and Yale this past weekend to place first at the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet held at the Yale Golf Club.The Tigers beat the Bulldogs, 23-36, and cruised over the Crimson, 19-44.
It would have been easy for women's soccer to give up and take a loss Sunday afternoon. Traveling to Hanover, N.H., to play Dartmouth, Princeton faced a team that was riding a four-game winning streak, had home field advantage and, by the end of the first half, had taken nearly twice as many shots as the Tigers.This was the kind of game Princeton (3-4-2 overall, 1-1-0 Ivy League) has been losing all season.
Senior goalie Bobby Guelich had the game of his collegiate career on Sunday against Dartmouth (4-1-3 overall, 1-0-0 Ivy League). Unfortunately for his team, his performance was part of a losing effort in which the Tigers (3-4-1, 0-1-0) could not muster much of an offense and fared little better on defense.
PHILADELPHIA ? For the second straight weekend, sprint football failed to score a point. The Tigers (0-2 overall) did, however, cut the number of points their opponent scored nearly in half, losing 42-0 to Penn (2-0) on Friday night.The Quakers scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and registered three more scores in the final three quarters.
In the football team's first two games of the season, the Tigers found ways to win. But on Saturday, the team didn't have to do much searching at all.Princeton easily discovered the formula for a blowout win: keep your offense on the field for 40 minutes and 12 seconds, more than ample time to establish some dominating and devastating rhythm."I had confidence, and I felt like I could carry on the rhythm early on [after the first drive]," junior quarterback Jeff Terrell said.And while Terrell played a solid game, a confluence of factors allowed the Tigers to utterly frustrate Columbia en route to a 43-3 win.As both Terrell and head coach Roger Hughes agreed, the ultimate key to Saturday's win was the strong play of Princeton's all-senior offensive line, led by offensive captain and senior outside lineman Ben Brielmaier. "When our offensive line plays well, we have a chance to move the football," Hughes said.
Despite a 2-1 weekend record, the men's water polo team returned disappointed after its 14-game league win streak was snapped by a feisty Bucknell squad.
As head coach Roger Hughes addressed the media following the football team's 43-3 dismantling of Columbia on Saturday, the three Tigers seated to his right shared a laugh while pointing at their printouts of the game's statistics.Junior tailback Cleo Kirkland later explained the cause of their amusement.
After the final whistle blew in Sunday's game against Villanova, the field hockey team felt quite different than it had a mere 48 hours before.
Wearing her orange jersey and cleats, eight-year-old Jessica Bush spent Saturday night bouncing around like a jumping bean.From her vantage point in the bleachers behind the south goal at Lourie-Love Field, Jessica screamed "Princeton!" at the top of her lungs and cheered wildly for her favorite players.She was one of a bevy of young girls at the game, all watching and learning from their heroes on the women's soccer team.
When senior attack Lauren Ehrlichman departed from New Jersey in mid-September for a trip to Chile with the U.S.
Sprint football visits PennThe sprint football teams fielded by Princeton and Penn could not have enjoyed more disparate results in their respective season-opening games.
Fresh off an inspiring victory last week against San Diego, the football team will take on an equally energized Columbia team this Saturday at Palmer Stadium.For the first time since 1996, the Lions (2-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy League) have an undefeated record after the first two games of their season.
In a Sept. 21 contest against UMass, Dartmouth forward Sarah Johnson lined up to take a free kick just outside the penalty box during the second overtime.
After weeks of practice, several close games against nationally-ranked opponents and an exhausting overtime tie versus instate rival Rutgers on Wednesday, the men's soccer team (3-3-1 overall) will start from scratch this weekend.On Sunday, the Tigers travel to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth (3-1-3) in what will be both teams' first Ivy League matchup of the season.Though the Tigers have proven that they can be competitive against the country's most elite collegiate programs, those accomplishments will count for little in the team's quest for a league championship.Ivy League soccer does not have a playoff or ranking system to determine the league champion.
When the field hockey team returned to campus in August 2003, none of the Tigers knew what to expect.Their All-Ivy League goalie, Kelly Baril '03, had graduated, leaving behind a gaping hole in the cage.
It's really quite simple.Pier DeRoo and Ana DeRoo grew up as particularly close siblings. Both began rowing as freshmen in high school and developed into elite rowers.
The thought of his Junior Project loomed large in the back of junior Mike Jorgensen's head this summer as he took classes in Los Angeles.
One clean touch of the ball was all Rutgers (2-6-1) needed to take away the trophy the men's soccer team (3-3-1) so longed for ? an overdue victory over the Scarlet Knights.Trailing by a goal for much of the second half last night at Lourie-Love Field, Rutgers was thirsty for a score as the game ticked toward its conclusion.
