March 26, 2003: Sports

Top of the mountain
Women’s lax defends national title

Many questions, fewer answers
Men’s basketball slips

Sports Web Exclusives! P-nut Gallery column

Top of the mountain
Women’s lax defends national title

By Paul Hagar ’91

Photo: All-America Rachael Becker ’03 leads a defense that was ranked first nationally after the 2002 season. (Beverly Schaefer)

Remember the schoolyard favorite King of the Mountain? You scramble to the top of a mound of snow, then try to hold your ground while fending off kids bent on knocking you down an icy slope. This year, that’s the essence of the season for Princeton’s national champion women’s lacrosse team – don’t get knocked off.

With a 19-game win streak and a No. 1 preseason ranking despite graduating three of their best players, the Tigers began the defense of their N.C.A.A. title in early March. There’s no resting on their laurels; three of Princeton’s first four games were against ranked opponents: No. 5 Loyola, No. 3 Virginia, and No. 2 Duke.

With eight veterans returning, the prospects look good for another Ivy title and N.C.A.A. tournament run. “We will certainly learn a lot about ourselves in March,” says coach Chris Sailer, whose team faces fourth-ranked Georgetown March 28.

League competition won’t be any easier. On April 4, the Tigers visit Cornell, which also made the Final Four in 2002, and started the season ranked ninth. Eight days later, Princeton travels to 13th-ranked Yale.

Offense is the key question this year. Sailer is looking for goals – and leadership – from a core group of attackers and midfielders, including Alex Fiore ’03, Whitney Miller ’03, All-America Theresa Sherry ’04, Liza Hillenbrand ’04, Lindsey Biles ’05, and Elizabeth Pillion ’05. All-America Rachael Becker ’03 will lead the defense, working with Katie Norbury ’04 and goalkeeper Sarah Kolodner ’05.

“Our key is staying mentally strong through the twists and turns, no matter what happens,” says Sailer, whose Tigers proved their resiliency in 2002. Last March, Princeton’s only defeat came against Georgetown in the first game of the season. The team used that loss as motivation the rest of the year, culminating in a 12—7 win in the N.C.A.A. championship. This year, the Tigers start on top.

Paul Hagar ’91 writes frequently for PAW.

Many questions, fewer answers
Men’s basketball slips

By Matt Henshon ’91

With three games left on its schedule, the men’s basketball team (14—10, 8—3 Ivy) was in jeopardy of snapping a streak of seven straight postseason appearances. The Tigers raised many questions this year, starting with: How much were they victims of past success?

Observers of the Ivy League have noticed during the last few years that opponents have been imitating the hallowed Princeton offense. By one count, four of the seven other Ivy teams use at least some of the offensive scheme’s screening and cutting combinations.

Meanwhile, as highlighted in a recent Sports Illustrated article by Grant Wahl ’96, the Princeton system has spread through the basketball world at all levels – N.B.A., colleges, and high school. So, while the offense probably has been overrated as a factor in Princeton’s success over the years, it is clear that teams are seeing, and preparing for, the Princeton offense more often than they had in the past.

Also, what if this team had been healthy all year? Andre Logan ’04 entered the year hoping to bounce back from a knee injury that kept him out of most Ivy games last year. Instead, Logan played in the first three, averaging 12 points, before reinjuring the knee and withdrawing from school. Spencer Gloger ’04 (15.7 p.p.g.) played brilliantly at times, before severely spraining his ankle during the second half of a loss at home to Brown, which helped the Bears win in Princeton for the first time in 53 games. Less than a week later he was declared academically ineligible for the remainder of the season and is no longer enrolled at Princeton.

Looking ahead, to whom will coach John Thompson ’88 turn next year for the court savvy supplied by Kyle Wente ’03 and the athleticism of Ray Robins ’03? Thompson returns the nucleus of a quality backcourt with Ed Persia ’04, Will Venable ’05 (11.3 p.p.g.), and Scott Greenman ’06, while the publication Hoop Scoop places the incoming freshman class in the Top 50 in the U.S. If Thompson can find support in the frontcourt for Judson Wallace ’05 (9.8 p.p.g., 5.7 r.p.g.) and Konrad Wysocki ’04, there may be fewer questions, and more answers, next year.

Matt Henshon ’91 is a principal with the Allerton Law Group, P.C. in Boston.