So maybe you think that games for the men's lacrosse team don't count unless it's Memorial Day, and there's a wooden national championship trophy to be won.
You might have to think again, because while there is a different holiday approaching, this weekend is huge.
The No. 4 Tigers (7-1 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) play the most important two games of their regular season in just two days at 1952 Stadium. First comes Cornell (8-2, 4-0), ranked No. 7 in the country and — more importantly — the only other undefeated Ivy League team. Princeton will then barely have time to catch its breath before celebrating Easter Sunday by battling No. 2 Syracuse (8-1).
"It's definitely the biggest weekend of the season," senior midfielder Chris Berrier said. "These two games are extremely important."
Packed house
While the showdown with the Orangemen might be more appealing to the fans, the game with the Big Red carries the most weight. The winner will be the Ivy League champion. It's as simple as that.
Both teams stand at 4-0 in the league with two games remaining, while no other Ivy team has fewer than two losses. With the tiebreaker based on head-to-head competition, the winner of the game Saturday will win the league and secure the accompanying automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
"We're playing for an Ivy League championship, and that's first and foremost in our minds all the time," head coach Bill Tierney said. "So really it's 'Cornell Week.' "
Cornell has built its 8-2 record against both lesser teams and the best of competition. The Big Red rolled over Penn, Yale and Harvard in the same way that Princeton dominated those three schools. While such Ivy wins are vital this year, Cornell's biggest win by far this season was a 13-12 thriller over Syracuse on April 11 — a game the Orangemen had entered undefeated and ranked No. 1.
Although the Big Red crashed back to Earth in its most recent game, losing at Hobart in the rain and mud Tuesday, Cornell's win over Syracuse shows that it can play with any team on any day — certainly cause for concern in the Princeton camp.
Close shaves
During the Tigers' 29-game Ivy League win streak, Cornell has provided some of the closest calls, including a 9-6 contest last year. With all the rewards riding on a win in this game, intensity could be the deciding factor.
"Cornell is going to come down to both teams being very emotional, playing for the Ivy League championship," Berrier said. "We can't ever give them a chance to breathe."
A Princeton-Syracuse matchup requires no league intrigue or even national championship implications to make for great lacrosse — as mixing the Orange-men's wide-open play and the Tigers' reserved offense has historically produced terrific games. The teams met last year with both in the midst of subpar seasons, but still managed to produce a quadruple-overtime, 15-14 thriller that the visiting Tigers finally won on a goal by senior midfielder Josh Sims.
Games between the two teams without NCAA implications are not common, however, as Princeton and Syracuse have won 10 of the last 12 national championships. The Orangemen knocked the Tigers out of last year's NCAA tournament in the first round, 7-5.
"This will be our third game in less than a year," Tierney said of the two teams. "Throughout the year, we've been doing things that have somewhat been geared toward Syracuse. It's not like we're going to go in blind. We know who they are."
Princeton used a perfect combination of offense and defense since losing to Virginia in its second game of the season. In each of their last six games, the Tigers have scored at least 10 goals, while no opponent has reached double figures. Sophomore attackman B.J. Prager has been the story on offense of late, ripping off 15 goals in the last four contests.
Those statistics have come against respectable but weaker teams, however. As every Tiger realizes, Syracuse and Cornell are not weak teams.
This weekend is huge.
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