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Sports: November 8, 1995
Tigers on a Tear- Can it Last?
Tennis Impresses with Solid Start
Women's Golf Gets "Great Victory"
Scoreboard
Football gets turnovers; beats Lafayette in romp, 41-0, and soaks Harvard in rain, 14-3
A storm cloud is hovering over the Princeton football team. Fortunately for the Tigers, it is lined with orange and black. For the second and third straight weeks, Princeton had to play on muddy fields under a persistent rain, but for the fifth and sixth successive Saturdays, the Tigers prevailed. With a 41-0 thrashing of an embarrassed Lafayette team at home October 14 and a gritty 14-3 victory over Harvard in Cambridge October 21, Princeton (6-0, 3-0 Ivy) kept pace with undefeated Columbia (3-2-1, 3-0 Ivy) as the Lions and Tigers prepared for their October 28 showdown in Palmer Stadium.
At press time, four teams stood between Princeton and its first undefeated season and outright Ivy League title since 1964: Columbia, Penn, Yale, and Dartmouth. Can the team-which isn't always pretty to watch but which so far has stopped its opponents-keep winning? In recent years, the Tigers have met their toughest competition at season's end and haven't delivered, despite strong starts. Perhaps the best way to review the team's chances is to pose some questions of our own:
Question 1: for the fifth straight year, Princeton has at least five wins in its first six games. Why does Princeton start so strong?
A. The schedule.
B. Coaching.
C. Luck-see question 2E.
Answer: A. Princeton has certainly had its share of lucky bounces, and Coach Steve Tosches is a proven motivator who quickly gets his teams to execute a straightforward game plan. But in the 1990s, the Tigers' schedule has allowed Princeton to feast on weak Patriot League teams in three of the first five weeks. (The Tigers are now 14-1 in their last 15 non-league games.) And while Cornell often provides a tough season opener, the schedule offers up perennial Ivy League also-rans Brown and Harvard before Princeton has to face the league's best. By beating the teams they are supposed to, the Tigers have won over 80 percent of their games since the start of the 1991 season, the best winning percentage in all of Division I-AA during that span.
Question 2: What was the biggest play of the Harvard game?
A. Quarterback Brock Harvey '96's first quarter, fouryard touchdown pass to Kevin Duffy '97, completing an impressive 14-play, 60-yard, seven-minute drive.
B. A Harvard illegal-procedure penalty that nullified running back Eion Hu's second-quarter touchdown run, causing Harvard to settle for a field goal.
C. Freshman Alex Sierk's missed field-goal attempt at the end of the first half after quarterback Harry Nakielny '97 had moved the Tigers 54 yards in 1:45.
D. Harvey's third-quarter, 39yard touchdown pass to Duffy.
E. Harvard tight end Andrew Laurence's dropped pass, which should have been a Crimson touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter.
F. Junior safety Jimmy Archie's fourth-quarter interception at Princeton's 12-yard line, which saved a probable touchdown.
Answer: A and D. Harvey is supposed to be the runner in Tosches's quarterback rotation. Instead he surprised Harvard twice by throwing perfect passes to Duffy for the Tigers' two touchdowns. On the first, he rolled right, giving himself enough time to let Duffy elude his man in the back of the end zone. The play "wasn't designed to go to me at all," said Duffy, who leads Ivy receivers with six touchdown catches. "It's never even been thrown to me in practice, ever." On the second score, Harvey sensed a blitz, so at the line of scrimmage he changed the play from a run to a pass. With the Crimson in his face, Harvey lofted the ball down the middle. Duffy accelerated past his man, ran under the ball at the five-yard line and stepped across the goal line.
Question 3: If you wanted to beat Lafayette 410, you would recommend
A. that the Leopards turn the ball over seven times, including three fumbles on the snap.
B. that Lafayette return man Tadji Chattman fumble Princeton's first punt, leading to a Tiger touchdown.
C. that Princeton put together a seven-minute, 89yard touchdown drive on its next possession to break the Leopards' spirit early.
D. that Lafayette commit 11 penalties for 128 yards.
E. that Sierk kick a 45yard field goal, the longest during Tosches's tenure.
Answer: A. "Turnovers killed us," said Lafayette coach Bill Russo after the game. "When you turn the ball over that many times you're going to get beat bad, and we got beat bad. It was one of those nightmare kind of days. We may have an exorcism tomorrow instead of watching films." Seven different Tigers scored in the rout, which was Princeton's largest margin of victory since a 420 win over Penn in 1969.
Question 4: Which is most important to the Tigers?
A. The backfield and receiving corps.
B. The offensive line.
C. The defense.
D. The kicking game.
Answer: B. This is a tough one. Fullback Mike Clifford '98 has emerged to complement outstanding tailback Marc Washington '97, who has 107 yards per game. Every week another of Princeton's young receivers shines. The defense has allowed just nine points in the last 10 quarters. And for the first time in years, extra points are less of an adventure than Outdoor Action. But week in and week out, the offensive line sets the tone. "Our offensive line is our strength. We're going to have to ride that," says Tosches. Princeton has held the ball on average five minutes longer than its opponents, and against Harvard the Tigers had over a 13-minute edge in time of possession. As is typical in Tosches's offensive scheme, Princeton averages about 50 rushing attempts per game (versus 20 passes). The offensive line (with experienced senior starters Rich Manzo, John Nied, Carter Westfall, and Brad Pawlowski) gets to pound opposing defenses, and it has taken its toll. Princeton has scored 98 of its 154 points in the second half. And the other team cannot score if it's not on the field-the Tigers have allowed just 11.7 points per game, sixth best in Division I-AA.
Question 5: Which statistic best indicates how well the defense is playing?
A. 89.7 yards rushing allowed per game (also sixth best in Division IAA).
B. 3.7 takeaways per game (11 interceptions and 11 fumble recoveries).
C. 35-percent opponent thirddown conversion rate (30 of 86).
Answer: B. The Tigers are extremely tough against the run (allowing 2.7 yards per rush), but partly because Princeton often has the early lead, forcing the opposition to take to the air (Princeton allows 232 yards per game passing). More importantly, the Tigers are the poster boys for the "bendbutdon'tbreak" defense. Lafayette had the ball inside Princeton's 11-yard line twice and Harvard saw seven of its drives end less than 35 yards from the Tiger end zone. The two teams got a total of three points for their troubles, with Princeton causing three turnovers and stuffing four fourth-down conversion attempts. Princeton relies on making opposing offenses make mistakes-12 of the Leopards' and the Crimson's total of 26 drives ended with a fumble or an interception. "We make big plays," says junior safety Johnny Archie, whose fourth-quarter interception and fumble recovery helped ice the Harvard game. "We talk about it every day. As long as we keep doing that, we'll keep winning."
Question 6: As a Tiger fan, which quote most makes you think this may be Princeton's year?
A. "We're exactly where we thought we'd be, we're exactly where we want to be, and I don't think it's a surprise to anybody on the team that we're 60 right now." -Senior captain and linebacker Dave Patterson.
B. "The bigger games are at hand. It's always been my mindset that we want to go 10-0 and win the title. At the end of last season, I knew that we were going to have enough players returning, enough heart, and enough team leadership that we were going to have a chance to win the league title. We're exactly in the spot that I expected us to be in and I'm loving it." -Tailback Marc Washington '97.
C. "Right now we are not beating ourselves. We've done the things we've needed to, we've won the football games we've needed to, so we're on schedule right now. Here we go." -Coach Steve Tosches.
D. "We've been making the plays when we need to. We haven't necessarily even played our best football yet, so I'm thinking our best football is still to come. If we've been able to win sloppy the past six weeks, then we're just going to be that much better when we put it all together." -David Patterson '96.
Answer: Does it really matter? This team may be short on aesthetics, but it's long on the intangibles: confidence, leadership, desire, confidence, experience, luck, and (did we mention?) confidence. The Tigers will have to put it all together to beat Columbia and Penn, but in their heads and their hearts, they are the heavy favorites. The more time one spends with these players, the more one shares their belief in themselves.
-Phillip Thune '92
Phillip Thune also wrote this year's football preview, which appeared in the September 13 paw.
A difficult season last year saw the women's tennis team finish 5-8 overall (second to last in the Ivy League), as Princeton struggled to keep players free of injuries and on the court. This fall the women have regrouped, however, and have added some talented recruits. The men's team, which returned all its players from last year, has also been strong. The men finished second in their only team tournament, and sent top players to the national championships (see below).
With a third-place finish at the ITA East Regional Team Championships and individual titles at two other tournaments, the women's team has proven it's "back on track," according to coach Louise Gengler '75. At the Brown Invitational, in early October, returning first-singles player, captain Bridget Mikysa '96, upset two top players in the region on her way to winning the "A" flight tournament. In the finals she beat third-seeded Olga Novikova, of Penn State, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. In the "B" flight draw, freshman standout Kerry Patterson won her first collegiate tournament, defeating Penn State's Kellie Murphy, 6-4, 7-5 in the finals. (Patterson has the best Tiger singles record so far this season, 6-1.)
Princeton's top freshman and second-singles player, Olivia Streatfield, took home the "B" flight title at the Eastern Collegiate Tennis Tournament, held at the Lenz Tennis Center in September. An aggressive player from the baseline, she defeated Brown's Amanda Rhee in three sets in the finals.
Patterson and junior Mallika Krishnamwthy took the "A" doubles championship by beating a team from Penn in straight sets. The Tiger duo didn't lose a set during the tournament and is undefeated this season.
In Princeton's only team tournament this fall, the unseeded Tigers upset two seeded teams on its way to a third-place finish at the ITA championships, held at Lenz in October. They beat top-seed Boston University, 5-3, in the first round. An hour after that victory they were back on the courts and couldn't pull it together against Cornell, losing 6-1 in the semifinals. That loss was "more mental" than anything else, said Gengler. But the women rebounded to beat third-seeded Seton Hall, 5-0, in a playoff match.
Princeton sent three players to the ITA Rolex Regionals November 3, at Penn. Mikysa, Streatfield, and Patterson competed against the top players in the region in a 128-person singles draw. Mikysa and Streatfield also competed in doubles.
Mikysa said one of the team's strengths this year is depth. "Six or seven players could play the last couple spots in the lineup." Another asset is the new assistant coach, former touring pro Catarina Lindqvist, whose hard hitting helps the Tigers in preparing for stiff competition. Although Princeton may not end up on top of the Ivy league this spring, it will be a force, said Gengler. This fall, she added, the Tigers have shown what they are capable of this year.
Men's Tennis
The top-seeded men's tennis team battled to the finals of the ECAC tournament, held at Princeton October 6-9, beating Temple, 6-1, Columbia, 5-2, and Pennsylvania, 6-1, before losing 5-1 to second-seeded Harvard. The Crimson dominated the Tigers; they swept five singles matches, four in straight sets. The only Princeton point came in doubles, where two of three Princeton teams won. The Tigers number-one team, southpaw cocaptain Gog Boonswang '96 and David Murphy '96, won the toughest match of the day, beating Harvard's Todd Meringoff and Mitty Arnold in a 9-7 pro set. (The Crimson have won the ECAC team title four consecutive times.)
The weekend before the ECACs, the Tigers hosted the Princeton Invitational at Lenz. Three of the four semifinalists in the singles draw were Tigers. Murphy, seeded 8th, upset second-seeded Gene Katz '97 in the semifinal, before losing to Pennsylvania's Udi Kish in the finals, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Unseeded Jon Gilula '98, a baseliner with topspin groundstrokes, lost to Kish in the other semi. In the doubles bracket, the number-one-seeded team of Boonswang and Murphy defeated teammates Katz and Gilula, 8-2, to win the championship.
Cocaptains Reed Cordish '96 and Brook Hazelton '96 competed in two legs of the ITA Collegiate Grand Slam, which includes the NCAA tournament in May. At the T. Rowe Price National Intercollegiate Clay Court Tournament, in Baltimore, Cordish won his first match in three sets before losing to fourth-seeded Johan Hede of Mississippi. Cordish and Hazelton lost in the first round of doubles but rebounded to beat the fifth-ranked team in the nation in the consolation bracket. At the All-American Championships, in Austin, Hazelton, a baseliner who mixes up his groundstrokes with slice and topspin, lost in the second round of the qualifying draw. Cordish lost in the first round of the main draw to seventh-seeded George Bastl, of South Florida, 6-3, 6-2. In the consolation draw, he lost to Steven Baldas, of the University of Georgia, 6-4, 6-4.
Princeton completed the fall season by hosting the Rolex Eastern Championships, November 2-6, at Jadwin, and headed into its offseason training with a 3-1 team record.
-Kathryn F. Greenwood
Junior Mary Moan and sophomore Laura Gilmore showed the way for the women's golf team, which beat out 17 other schools to win the Eastern College Athletic Conference title October 22 in Princeton. The squad posted a score of 660 for the tournament, beating runner-up Penn State by seven strokes. Moan won the individual title with a score of 155; Gilmore was just two strokes behind her and finished second. According to coach Eric Stein, Princeton's first-ever ECAC title was "huge, a great victory" and showed that the women are "a heady team that is prepared for any kind of conditions."
Heavy rain that soaked the Springdale Golf Course made play difficult and postponed the completion of Saturday's first round. As a result, darkness became a factor on Sunday, because many players had to complete their Saturday rounds before heading on to the final circuit. According to Stein, when Gilmore finished her final round Sunday night, spotters were stationed along the fairways "listening for the ball," while automobile headlights were used to light the 18th green.
Moan and Gilmore hit well off the tees, which helped them on the wet course. "They're both consistently long and down the middle," said Stein. "In an event where you're getting no roll, that plays a huge factor." The duo posted two of only three scores in the 70s for the first round, and showed they still have the form that earned them two of only four East Coast NCAA bids last spring.
Men's Cross Country
(1-1 overall; 1-1 Ivy)
Harvard 29, Princeton 26
Princeton 34, Yale 21
Women's Cross Country
(2-1 overall; 1-1 Ivy)
Harvard 36, Princeton 31
Princeton 46, Yale 17
Field Hockey
(10-3 overall; 5-0 Ivy)
Princeton 1, Lafayette 0
Princeton 4, Dartmouth 2
Princeton 1, LaSalle 0
Princeton 2, Harvard 1
Football
(6-0 overall; 3-0 Ivy)
Princeton 41, Lafayette 0
Princeton 14, Harvard 3
Women's Golf
ECAC Champs.-1st
Men's Soccer
(10-3-0 overall; 3-1 Ivy)
Princeton 3, Lafayette 1
Princeton 2,
Dartmouth 1
Princeton 3, Dickinson 1
Princeton 2,
Harvard 1 (OT)
Women's Soccer
(7-5 overall; 2-3 Ivy)
Princeton 2, Villanova 0
Dartmouth 2,
Princeton 0
Princeton 3, Bucknell 1
Harvard 7, Princeton 0
Volleyball
(20-1 overall; 5-0 Ivy)
Princeton 3, Penn 0
Princeton 3,
Va. Commonwealth 1
Princeton 3,
Northeastern 2
Princeton 3, Loyola 0
Princeton 3, Navy 0
Princeton 3,
Morgan St. 0
Princeton 3, Lehigh 0
Princeton 3, Delaware 0
Lightweight Football
(0-4 overall; 0-4 ELFL)
Cornell 52, Princeton 33
Penn 34, Princeton 6
Army 45, Princeton 0
Cornell 35, Princeton 22
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