With its backs against the wall, the men's soccer team had two choices ? it could let its whole season slip away or could rebound and win both of its games by large margins.
Overcoming one's personal desires to adhere to the tenets of fairness and competition is crucial for good sportsmanship.
This time last season, the football team was in a bind. It was going into its second Ivy League game against Brown after losing yet another quarterback in a loss to Colgate.In only the fifth game of the season, Princeton was going against a team that had scored 53 points against them the last time, and the focus of the offense rested on the shoulders of a freshman fourth-string quarterback, the first-ever freshman to start under center in Princeton history.That freshman fourth-stringer, Dave Splithoff, led the Tigers to a 55-28 win over the Bears, earning Ivy League and ECAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Almost one year ago to the day from this Sunday's game, Princeton played Brown in a contest of undefeated women's soccer teams.
The Brown men's soccer team has won the Ivy League three of the last four years. The only interruption in the Bears' domination came in 1999 when a young Princeton team ripped the rug out from under them.
"We just can't let the injury bug hit us this year like it did last year," football head coach Roger Hughes said at the beginning of the season.Unfortunately for the Tigers, though, the injury bug bit last week, and it bit hard, putting five starters on the sideline by the end of the game against Colgate.
It was another one-goal game, but Princeton will take this one. After trailing in the competition ? a position the Tigers have been in only once this season ? Princeton stormed back, scoring late in the first half and then netting one in overtime to take the win, 2-1, last night over William and Mary.Princeton found itself down early.
"I was too small to play football and too short to play basketball, so I started running. I knew I wanted to do something, and there was nothing else I was good at."Maybe Wes Stockard, senior captain of the men's cross-country team, did begin his running career this way.
Last night the Princeton field hockey team traveled to the University of Delaware and defeated the Blue Hens, 3-2, in the first step of recovery after a disastrous loss to Penn State last weekend.Princeton, ranked No.
Enough is enough. And last night, the men's soccer team decided it was tired of being on the wrong side of the win-loss column, even if it had only been there twice.
'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.
