With three weeks left in the Ivy League men’s lacrosse season, three teams are bunched at the top, and the fourth playoff spot is still in doubt. Here’s how the conference race shapes up down the home stretch:
Last Friday night, the No. 14 Princeton women’s water polo team defeated No. 20 Hartwick, 13-10. Hartwick is the only ranked team that the Tigers faced at DeNunzio Pool this season, and the win capped off a perfect 10-0 record at home.
On a cool Tuesday night, the men’s lacrosse team found itself on the winning side again after giving a strong beating to cross-town rival Rutgers. Princeton took an early lead and gave few defensive openings to take down Rutgers 13-4.
Sophomore first baseman Mike Ford led Princeton to a 5-4 victory over Seton Hall at Clarke Field on Tuesday with a walk-off double to left center field to drive in junior shortstop Matt Bowman in the bottom of the 10th inning.
This past saturday, sophomore Tommy Scott ran the 400m hurdles in 55.48 seconds, setting a personal record in a day of Tiger record-setting at the Sam Howell Invitational. Scott also competes in a number of other events, including the 4x400 relay and the 400m race.
Both the open women’s and heavyweight men’s crews claimed easy wins at home on Lake Carnegie this past Saturday, while the lightweight women’s squad traveled to Lewisburg, Pa., losing to Bucknell by three seconds.
Kicking off the Sam Howell Invitational with style, sophomore hammer thrower Conor McCullough unleashed a massive 250-foot bomb down the throwing field. The throw drew a close foul and was not counted, but McCullough was already on his game. Spinning off another arcing shot, McCullough hit 72.07 meters before unleashing another monstrous throw that fell at 74.01 meters, or 242 feet, 10 inches. The mark erased his old Ivy League record of 71.47m. As McCullough continued to be in the groove, all five of his throws landed beyond 71.31m.
The men’s volleyball team (9-9 Ivy overall, 5-7 EIVA) continued its home stretch this past weekend as it defeated both New York University (20-8) and Vassar (19-10). While neither game mattered in terms of conference standing, both were highly contested, and the Vassar game was also senior day for the Tigers.
With eight of its previous nine Ivy League matches having been decided by one point, the odds were high that the men’s tennis team would find itself in close contests as it hosted Brown and Yale this weekend. Princeton (12-8 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) continued its trend of winning 4-3 as sophomore Dan Richardson provided the clinching match against No. 54 Brown on Saturday before junior Matt Siow clinched another 4-3 victory over Yale the following day.The No. 69 women’s tennis team (8-10, 1-2) didn’t fare as well against Brown and Yale, losing 5-2 to No. 53 Brown on Friday before falling 4-3 to No. 27 Yale on Saturday.
Sophomore Kelly Shon won the Brown University Invitational at Rhode Island Country Club held Sunday and Monday. Shon shot a 71 in the first round and a 73 in the second to finish at even par, three strokes clear of the field.
For the baseball team this weekend, it was all good until the end. Princeton continued to make its presence known in the Ivy League, going 3-1 against Yale and Brown in two doubleheaders, but a 13-6 loss in Providence cast a cloud over an otherwise fantastic weekend for the Tigers (12-12 overall, 6-2 Ivy League).
Despite a slow start in scoring on Saturday, the women’s lacrosse team hit its stride at the end of the first half and carried that momentum through the rest of the game. The No. 18 Tigers (6-4 overall, 3-1 Ivy League) dominated possession throughout the game and easily defeated conference rival Yale 12-4 on Saturday afternoon.
Stepping up to the plate with the bases loaded and your team down by one run in the seventh inning is every softball hitter’s dream. It is the perfect opportunity to prove to your team that you have what it takes to come up with a big hit in tight games. Tory Roberts, however, had much more to prove.
The men’s lacrosse team dropped a nail-biter in Syracuse this Saturday, bringing its impressive four-game win streak to a disappointing close. The outing was marked by stellar play from senior goalkeeper Tyler Fiorito but an uncharacteristically high number of turnovers for the team’s offense proved too much for the Tigers to overcome. Despite leading throughout most of the first three quarters, Princeton fell to the Orange 10-9.
As it prepares for its game against Yale tomorrow, the women’s lacrosse team hopes to carry in momentum from its big win over Temple on Wednesday, 14-13. Freshman attack Erin McMunn’s record-setting six assists highlighted the contest, which brought the No. 18 Tigers back above .500.
It’s the year of the Lou Gehrig division in Ivy League baseball. After opening weekend, the Tigers are on par with the three other teams in the division, as all currently hold 3-1 records in league play.
The softball team continues conference play this weekend, traveling for doubleheaders against Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday. The Tigers have not had luck on their side to start the season, with 10 of their losses coming by a margin of just one or two runs.
The No. 11 men’s lacrosse team possesses a radically different kind of offensive line than it did a year ago when it played then-No. 1 Syracuse. With five games remaining in the regular 2011-12 season, the Tigers maintain a total goal count of 89, averaging 10.72 per game. In contrast, senior tri-captain goalie Tyler Fiorito and freshman goalie Eric Sanschagrin have allowed just 55 goals over the span of eight games, 6.62 per game.
Kentucky against the field was supposed to be a battle for college basketball’s soul. Less than half a century ago, freshmen weren’t even eligible to play on the varsity level, and now a handful of them were not only winning a championship but doing so convincingly, leaving no doubt as to where the best team in the country went to college.
Exactly half of the 28 Ivy League women’s lacrosse games have been played. So far, some familiar names are near the top of the league, but some important contests lie ahead in the final four weeks of the regular season.
