'Prince' staff writer Nick Benjamin recently sat down with senior Mike Nugent, a forward on the men's soccer team.Prince: Let's start at the beginning.
What do you get when you mix a solid crew team, generous alumni and a regatta in Pittsburgh? The Head of the Ohio regatta last weekend, at which four all-senior Princeton teams competed and came away with one first-place and three second-place finishes.The teams consisted of a mix of heavyweight and lightweight seniors of both the men's and women's teams.
The men golf's team achieved their first top-five finish of the season by taking fourth place at the Temple Golf Invitational last weekend.
Coming into this year's ECAC tournament as defending champions, the men's tennis team had to be wary of two key factors.
Upon first impression, one can detect a certain "California" demeanor about senior Marshall Roslyn, but as soon as he starts talking about water polo, his focus is apparent.As one of the co-captains of the men's water polo team, Roslyn's story is ironic in that he moved from the state known for breeding water polo players, California, to the East Coast where he actually learned to play the sport.Roslyn grew up in California, and at the age of twelve, his family moved to Philadelphia.
As Colgate quarterback Tom McCune rolled to his left to avert a Princeton rush, he spotted a receiver downfield breaking open near the first-down marker.
While it has been said that the early bird catches the worm, during a weekend punctuated by enough rain to drown even the most aquatically inclined soil-dwellers, those teams with the earliest tee times this weekend at the Princeton Invitational did not get the birdies.The women's golf team placed second with a two-round total of 635, but fell by four strokes to chief Ivy League rival Yale this weekend, despite a strong team showing on day two, and an individual second place finish by sophomore Esty Dwek.The large field of 20 schools competing at the Princeton Invitational meant that the earliest teams teed off at 7:45 a.m., while others were finishing up as the sun was setting.
Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you. That line might easily have been meant for the field hockey team this weekend.
In sprint football it's tough enough to defeat a high-quality opponent, but when a team must battle itself as well, it can make a game much tougher to win.This was the story of Friday night's game in which Princeton (0-2) fell to archrival Penn in a 56-12 stomping that was blemished by numerous key turnovers on the part of the Tigers.Penn got off to a rolling start with an opening drive that included 11 plays en route to 75 yards of offensive production, resulting in a Quaker touchdown late in the first quarter.On the ensuing Princeton possession, the Tigers coughed up the ball on a fumble that allowed Penn to take over and score again on a 31-yard bomb to receiver Jeff Bagnoli 27 seconds later, making it 14-0."Penn's capitalization off of our turnovers really deflated our team," freshman receiver Matt Babinsky said.
California is 3000 miles and a seven hour plane trip from Princeton. Usually when friends and family members travel that far, they bring something back with them ? a reminder of the trip to share with others.The women's soccer team packed an un-welcome souvenir in its bags for its Ivy League opponents.True, the team did finish 0-1-1 in the inaugural UCLA Women's Cup this weekend, but the Tigers hope to have picked up something that will prove more important in the final Ivy League standings.The non-conference games will not count against Princeton when the league season is over, but the lessons learned from playing one of the best teams in the country will almost certainly linger.The No.
On the final play of the first half, the football team wanted to play it safe, so sophomore quarterback David Splithoff decided to take a knee.But he tripped over the foot of one of Princeton's offensive linemen and ended up on the turf.It was that sort of game Saturday afternoon for the Tigers (1-2 overall, 1-0 Ivy League), who were routed by Colgate (3-2 overall, 1-0 Patriot League). Princeton scored first, on a 33-yard field goal by senior kicker Taylor Northrop, but the Red Raiders answered with 28 straight points en route to a 35-10 victory."Basically, that was an old-fashioned butt-kicking, and they lined up and kicked our backside," head coach Roger Hughes said.The statistics agreed with Hughes' assessment.
Spectators at the Princeton Battlefield on Saturday may have thought they were seeing double. Yale's All-American twins, Kate and Laura O'Neill, came across the finish line just a few seconds apart to take first and second place in the 26th annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton women's cross country meet.Yale, currently ranked No.
Last Friday night the women's volleyball team lost its Ivy League opening match to the Quakers three games to one.
Women's soccerPrinceton went 0-1-1 on its trip to the West Coast. Though the Tigers tied the first game with Cal Poly, their performance in the second, a 2-0 loss to UCLA, was dramatically better, as the Bruins are ranked second in the country. Sprint footballThe Tigers ran up against long-time nemesis Penn on Friday night.
The cold rain falling on Harvard's Ohiri soccer field was just the beginning of a disappointing game for the men's soccer team on Saturday.Entering the game, both Princeton (3-2-2 overall, 1-1-1 Ivy League) and Harvard (6-2, 2-0) were undefeated in the Ivy League.Missing three starters and in difficult conditions, however, the Tigers were unable to recover from a slow start, and the game ended in a 1-0 Princeton loss.After two bad games for the Tigers, a 0-0 tie with Columbia on Saturday, Sept.
The women's soccer team has been nearly perfect against its traditional East Coast rivals this fall, outscoring its opponents 18-1 on the way to a 6-0 record.But a world does exist outside of the Ivy League.
People always come running for two-for-one deals, a fact attested to by the long line running out the door at Thomas Sweets on Two for Tuesdays.But when the Yale women's cross-country team took on twin runners Kate and Laura O'Neill, it had no idea what a bargain it got.The junior duo led Yale to a seventh-place finish in the NCAA championships last year and both were named to the All-American team in the process.
The football team dominated Columbia last week, winning 44-11 in its most complete game since Roger Hughes took over as head coach last season.
In a week of firsts for the Tigers, this Saturday will be the first time that Princeton's determination will be questioned.
Princeton and Rutgers have been neighbors for a long time. For the most part, they have gotten along well, as neighbors should.But every now and then, representatives from these two staid institutions put on uniforms and meet on a playing field.
