Napoleon's military genius is never judged by Waterloo alone; but surely, as the French emperor retreated across the bloody fields of Belgium, he found little solace in reminding himself that his place in history was secure.

It would be similarly unjust to judge the 1997-98 Princeton basketball team solely by its 63-56 NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan State on March 15. But in the locker room of the Hartford Civic Center, as the Tigers dressed themselves for off-season exile, big-picture perspective was hard to find. Seniors like Mitch Henderson, Steve Goodrich, and James Mastaglio were coming to terms with the end of their careers, and their collective place in history as members of one of the best Princeton teams of all time wasn't much comfort.

In the postgame press conference, Goodrich was asked to comment on the 27-2 season as a whole. "I can't imagine the whole season right now," he responded. "I feel horrible. When you win you're happy, and you want to be around people. When you lose, you can't even talk. I feel so bad right now, I can't even tell you about it."

Henderson, surrounded by a mob of reporters, sat on a bench and spoke about the high expectations he had had for the team. Mastaglio was answering questions nearby, still in uniform, as though he were unwilling to take it off for the last time. In an adjoining room, assistant coaches John Thompson III '88 and Joe Scott '87 sat side by side on a bench, while volunteer coach Howie Levy '85 rested on the floor with his back against the wall, each looking dazed and miserable.

"We didn't play our best game, or one of our best games," said head coach Bill Carmody. The team that spent the season shooting better than 50 percent from the floor and nearly 40 percent from three-point range completely lost its touch against the Spartans. Tough defense kept Princeton competitive -- the game was tied 54-54 with two minutes remaining -- but with key shots consistently clanging off the rim, the Tigers never took control.

Carmody gave credit to the Spartan defense, but Michigan State didn't cause the Tigers to go 4-for-11 from the free-throw line in the second half. The Spartans also didn't have much to do with 12 missed three-pointers in the first half and a 25 percent overall performance from beyond the arc. Goodrich, who led the team with 18 points, put it simply: "We had a lot of good looks, and we missed them."

On defense, the Tigers did all they could to jump-start the offense. Princeton had 15 steals, and scored 16 points on Michigan State's 22 turnovers. The one thing the Princeton defense was unable to do was control Spartan sophomore guard Mateen Cleaves. The second-team All-America ball-handler torched the Tigers for 27 points and a game-high five assists. "We didn't handle him all night," said Carmody. "He dominated the game."

Two nights previously, the Tigers had been the ones dominating. The UNLV squad, coming off a charmed run through its conference tournament, was completely undone by the Princeton offense. The Runnin' Rebels gave up 20 straight points in the first half, and were outscored 15-4 over a critical stretch in the second half on the way to their opening round exit.

Junior guard Brian Earl led all scorers with 21 points, and had five assists and a team-high five rebounds. Henderson had 19 points, six assists, and three steals. The Tigers shot 55 percent from the floor against UNLV, and 39 percent from three-point range -- a far cry from the offensive self-immolation that was less than 48 hours away.

Great expectations

As sad as it was to see the season end in such a depressing loss, it would have been hard for anyone standing amid the emotional carnage in the Princeton locker room to think of any ending -- other than perhaps a Final Four appearance -- that wouldn't have left this team kicking itself.

For all its success, Princeton was a team that knew very little in the way of jubilation this year. There had been no chest-bumping and high-fiving two days previously, when the Tigers whipped UNLV. It was expected. These guys got over the We're-just-happy-to-be-here phase when they beat UCLA back in 1996, and an opening round exit, like last year's loss to California, would simply have been unacceptable.

Sure, they felt relief at not having to go home early, but leaving the WAC Conference Tournament champs in their dust was no cause for celebration. "We've gotten over jumping up and down when we beat teams like that," said Mastaglio the next day. "It's not a huge deal anymore."

It had been that way all year. The Tigers found out that they had won the Ivy League Championship while standing around in the locker room after an easy win at Columbia. There were no cheering crowds and no PA announcement. Penn had unexpectedly dropped a game to Cornell that night, so there it was.

The next night's win at Cornell would have clinched it anyhow, of course. And besides, the Ivy title, the 14-0 league record, the good tournament seed -- all these things were expected of the Tigers. Anything less they would have considered a failure.

New records

Luckily, time has a way of letting the important stuff rise to the top. "It'll be down the road a ways," said Goodrich when someone asked him when he'd be able to put this season in perspective. It may be down the road, but the perspective will come. When it does, this Princeton team will be remembered, and should remember itself, as one of the best ever to put on the Orange and Black.

It will be remembered as the team that brought nationwide respect to the Princeton basketball program, earning Top-10 rankings in both major polls.

It will be remembered as the team that set a slew of school records: most wins (27), most wins in a row (20), most assists (478), and most three-pointers (265).

But most of all, it will be remembered as the team that turned Jadwin Gymnasium into a rollicking basketball madhouse for three magical months this winter, and then, after playing its last three regular season games on the road, opened the gym to the public for an intrasquad practice game -- just to say thank-you to the fans who wanted to see their Tigers play at home one more time.

-- Rob Garver

Hockey sparkles in dream playoff run
Stuns Brown, Cornell, and Yale en route to ECAC title game

Although countless strategy sessions took place this year in the locker rooms at Baker Rink and at other ECAC arenas, the most important gatherings for the men's hockey team occurred over a 12-hour period in rooms 424 and 410 at the Marriott Hotel in Providence. An hour after suffering a 6-0 humiliation at Brown on March 14 to even their best-of-three ECAC quarterfinal series at 1-1, the 26 players absorbed an emotional appeal by the Tiger coaching staff, then reconvened in the morning for a follow-up discussion run by the team captains. Six days and four victories later, they met again at center ice of Lake Placid's 1980 Olympic Arena to hoist the Whitelaw Cup as ECAC champions. The string of triumphs that eliminated fourth-seeded Brown, eighth-seeded Cornell, top-seeded Yale, and second-seeded Clarkson provided a startling reversal of fortune for a season that began with promise but appeared hopelessly mired in injury and inconsistency. By copping their first league title, the seventh-seeded darlings of the ECAC Tournament garnered the Orange and Black's first-ever berth in the 12-team NCAA field and were scheduled to play at Michigan on March 27. "There was very little coaching on our part," head coach Don Cahoon said modestly, and hoarsely, after the final. "The motivation was from within, the determination was from within, and the concept of winning the championship was within the kids. Everyone told them it was insurmountable, but they never believed it for a second."

The upperclassmen set the example throughout the week. Starting with the third Brown game, the Orange Line of cocaptain Casson Masters '98, Jeff Halpern '99, and Scott Bertoli '99 figured in the scoring of 14 of the 18 goals. Forward Syl Apps '99 notched two of the other four tallies, including the most monumental Princeton goal in decades: a 30-foot snap shot that popped off the left arm of Clarkson goaltender Dan Murphy and into the top of the net during the second overtime period of the title tilt. "The whole game I told them to shoot low, shoot at his feet -- and [Apps] roofs it," laughed Cahoon. "I was over there getting my head rubbed [in the celebration], and the kids were over there screaming, 'Way to shoot low, Syl, way to shoot low.'"

With the exception of the title-winning goal, the players masterfully executed the coaching staff's game plans all week. Taking advantage of their team speed on the wide Olympic ice surface, the Tigers frequently created seams in the opposition's defensive alignment to spark odd-man rushes and sustain pressure. Meanwhile, tightly woven defensive coverage and intense backchecking, epitomized by Bertoli's dive to negate a Clarkson breakaway late in the first overtime session, sharply reduced the quality of opposing scoring chances and preserved the stamina of goaltender Erasmo Saltarelli '98. Saltarelli was one of five Tigers named to the All-Tournament team, joining Masters, Apps, defenseman Steve Shirreffs '99, and tourney most valuable player Halpern.

By following up the team meetings with a 5-3 win in the decisive game at Brown, the Tigers advanced to Lake Placid for the league championships for the third time in the last four years, a feat matched only by Clarkson. A new playoff format, however, relegated the Tigers to a March 19 contest against Cornell, with the victor joining the more rested Yale, Clarkson, and Harvard squads in the semifinals the next day. With Masters tallying two goals and an assist and offering a clinic in forechecking, the Tigers rolled over the beleaguered Big Red, 6-2.

Taking the ice the next afternoon against the Bulldogs, Princeton survived an early one-goal deficit and went ahead, 2-1, late in the first period when forward Benoit Morin '00 redirected a misfired shot by defenseman Darren Yopyk '00. The two squads then engaged in a defensive war, with Princeton limiting Yale to 11 shots over the final 40 minutes. The one-goal margin stood, vaulting the Tigers into the next evening's championship against Clarkson.

Still zipping around the ice, Princeton built a 4-2 lead in the second period against the Golden Knights, highlighted by Halpern's successful conversion of a penalty shot. But Clarkson battled back to even the score midway through the third period. In overtime the Tigers showed no fatigue, controlling play for much of the extra session. Forty-eight seconds into the second overtime period, Apps seized a loose puck outside the Knight blue line, raced in untouched on the right side, and ripped his historic shot into the twine.

"We can play as well as anyone, and we can play as poorly as anyone," Halpern had said after the victory at Brown. "It all depends on which team shows up." For one memorable week in March, it was clearly the former. No one called a meeting to dispute that assertion.

-- Mike Jackman '92

Lacrosse trips at Virginia, rebounds vs. UNC

Attack Chris Massey '98 and the men's lacrosse team (21 overall, 0-0 Ivy) began their run at a third straight NCAA title with a 17-10 win at Johns Hopkins on February 28 (photo). The Tigers exploded for seven goals in the third quarter to break open what had been a tight, 6-5 game at halftime. A week later at the University of Virginia, a strong game by Cavalier goalie Chris Sanderson kept Princeton's vaunted attack under control, and the Tigers lost, 9-7. In its home opener on March 15, Princeton (which had fallen from first to fourth in the rankings) rebounded to get a crucial win over eighth-ranked North Carolina, 18-10. Massey had three goals in the game; his brother Scott, a freshman for the Tar Heels, scored once.

Sports Shorts

Saving grace: In the quarterfinal round of the ECAC playoffs on March 7, Tiger goalie Tammy Orlow '98 blocked 47 shots to lead the women's ice hockey team (12-16-2 overall, 8-131 ECAC) to a 3-2 upset victory over Northeastern. It was the fourth time this year Orlow had stopped 40 or more shots. Her stellar play wasn't enough to carry Princeton beyond the semifinal round, however; the Tigers fell to top-ranked New Hampshire on March 14, 72.

Goodrich is best: Center Steve Goodrich '98 was named Ivy League Player of the Year; forward Gabe Lew-ullis '99 joined him on the all-Ivy first team, while guards Mitch Henderson '98 and Brian Earl '99 made the second team. Forward James Mastaglio '98 got honorable mention.

Coach dropped: In late February, Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 disclosed that he had decided not to renew the contract of lightweight football coach Tom Murray. In his 20 years at Princeton, Murray was 3683-6; he won a share of the Eastern Lightweight Football League title in 1989. In the last three years, however, the Tigers were 1-17. The Daily Princetonian reported that Walters said, "We want to attempt to go in another direction" when asked about the change. Walters planned to begin interviewing replacements this month.

Champs by proxy? On March 15, Harvard's women's basketball team, seeded 16th in the West region of the women's NCAA tourney, upset the region's top seed, Stanford, 7167. It was the first time a 16-seed had ever defeated a one-seed in either the men's or women's tournaments. A month earlier, Princeton's women had staged an upset of their own, beating Harvard, 56-53. The Tigers ended up in second place in the Ivy League and did not receive an NCAA bid, but Princeton forward Kate Thirolf '98 earned first-team all-Ivy honors. Guards Zakiya Pressley '98 and Maggie Langlas '00 were named to the second team.

Scoreboard

Baseball
(3-1 overall,0-0 Ivy)
W at Elon, 4-2
W at Elon, 4-3
W at Elon, 8-3

M. basketball
(27-2 overall,14-0 Ivy)
NCAA Tourn.
W vs. UNLV, 69-57
L vs. Mich. St., 56-63

M. ice hockey
(18-10-7 overall,7-9-6 ECAC)
L at Rensselaer, 2-4
T at Union, 3-3
ECAC Tourn.
W at Brown, 3-2
L at Brown, 0-6
W at Brown, 5-3
W vs. Cornell, 6-2
W vs. Yale, 2-1
W vs. Clarkson, 5-4

W. ice hockey
(12-16-2 overall, 9-14-1 ECAC)
ECAC Tourn.
W at Northeastern, 3-2
L vs. NewHampshire,2-7

M. Lacrosse
(3-1 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
W at Johns Hopkins,17-10
L at U.Va., 7-9
W vs. UNC, 18-10
W vs. Penn St., 13-5

W. Lacrosse
(3-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
W vs. Duke, 16-12
W at Wm. & Mary, 7-5
W vs. Georgetown, 6-5

Softball
(4-2 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
W vs. UMBC, 3-2
W at Maryland, 3-2
Coastal Classic
W vs. E. Illinois, 4-1
L vs. Illinois-Chicago,0-2
W vs. Bucknell, 11-1
L at CoastalCarolina, 0-6

M. swimming
(9-0 overall, 9-0 EISL)
EISL Champs.­2nd

W. swimming
(8-2 overall, 6-1 EWSL)
Ivy Champs.­2nd

M. Tennis
(2- 1 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
W vs. Rutgers, 6-1
W vs. St. John's, 6-1
L vs. Penn. St., 2-5

W. Tennis
(1-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy)
W at Oregon, 8-1

M. track
(9-0 overall, 9-0 EISL)
Heptagonals­1st
IC4A Champs.­9th

W. track
(8-2 overall, 6-1 EWSL)
Heptagonals­1st
ECAC Champs.­16th

M. volleyball
(8-7overall, 6-4 EIVA)
L at Geo. Mason, 0-3
L at Rutgers-Newark, 2-3