Happy Mothers' Day

One day later, TigerBlog would like to wish all the Princeton moms out there a Happy Mothers' Day.

As for his own mom, this was Mothers' Day No. 25 since his passed away. It's also the 25th Mothers' Day since MotherBlog's ashes were scattered on the steps of the United States Capitol, as per her wishes.

MB was a nurse and ultimately a lobbyist, and she hoped having her ashes scattered where they were would be, in her mind, a small reminder to those in power that everyone can have a voice. TigerBlog thought they'd be the first people who ever did this and that all 25 or so people who were there were going to get arrested. Instead, they ran into two other groups who were doing the exact same thing.

Victory, MotherBlog.

She also wrote her own eulogy, which called for raised glasses, not tears. She got both.

TigerBlog thinks about that day at the Capitol in 1995 in Washington, DC, each time Mothers' Day rolls around. Yesterday was no different.

By the way, TB went directly from the U.S. Capitol building to Ivy League sports information meetings, which were held at Dartmouth. So he scattered his mom's ashes, read her eulogy and then drove directly to Hanover, N.H.

Anyway, Happy Mothers' Day to all the mothers out there. 

It was a hearty group of Princeton moms who sat through the women's lacrosse game yesterday, not to mention hearty dads and siblings and friends and anyone else who was at Sherrerd Field to see Princeton defeat Loyola 17-13 in the NCAA tournament second round.

Hearty, not because they gave up their Mothers' Day. Hearty because it was weather more suited for March than May, with heavy rain and cold temps that barely reached 50, if they did at all.

Princeton, for the second straight Sunday, showed it can play in the rain. Last week it was in the Ivy League tournament final against Penn, a 13-9 Tiger win, also on a nasty day, that time at Columbia.

In yesterday's game it was the NCAA second round. It was also the second straight Sunday on which Princeton played a team it had already defeated earlier in the season.

Loyola, by the way, hadn't lost since that game against Princeton, having won seven straight since. The Greyhounds sprinted past Richmond Friday night 19-6 in the first game of the weekend on Sherrerd Field, and they were a confident group heading into the game yesterday.
Princeton, for its part, had little trouble with Wagner in the first round, winning 19-7. This was also a confident team, and getting off to a good start seemed like a good idea for either team.

The first time Princeton played Loyola, it was a 14-10 Tiger win in which Princeton scored the first six goals of the game, in 11:36. In the game yesterday, it was Loyola who scored the first two in the first 90 seconds.

The Tigers might have been on the ropes at that point, but they quickly righted themselves, scoring four straight. Loyola would never tie the score again, but it was a one-goal game at halftime.

What happened after that? The perfect Princeton formula, that's what.

Draw control Nonie Andersen. Goal Elizabeth George. Draw control Nonie Andersen. Goal Elizabeth George.

Princeton would actually score the first six of the second half against Loyola. Interestingly, it took 11:46 to score those six, or 10 seconds more than it did to score the first six of the first half of the first game against Loyola.

From there it wasn't exactly game over, but in reality Princeton already more goals than it needed. The lead grew to 17-9 before the Greyhounds scored the last four.

George finished with six goals, giving her 61 on the season. That's the fourth-best season total in program history, or, put another way, the second-best this season, behind Tess D'Orsi's 63, which is the third-best single-season total, one away from Kyla Sears' 64 of a year ago.

And what about Sears? She only has 54 goals this season, though she does have 38 assists, leaving her with 92 points, or the second-best total in program history, behind the 110 Olivia Hompe had in 2017.

For her two seasons, Sears now has 175 points, which leaves her 107 away from Hompe's career record of 282. Should Sears double her total, she'd have 350. That's a big number.

Of course, with the win, Princeton is now guaranteed at least one more game this season. That one won't be easy. It'll be at No. 2 Boston College either Saturday or Sunday, and the winner of that game will head to the Final Four.

For Tiger head coach Chris Sailer, it's the 20th trip to the quarterfinals. year ago, the season ended one round earlier, at BC, 16-10.

Boston College has been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 nationally all season. This game will be a tough one.

Princeton will bring an 11-game winning streak into the game. And a ton of confidence.

There are only eight teams left who are playing.

It's always good to be one them.