Tigers vs. Scarlet Knights

So TigerBlog isn't quite sure where he got the idea that Princeton's women's soccer team was going to open its season against Colgate on Aug. 25.

As it turns out, it'll be Princeton against Monmouth on Aug. 25 on Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium. That'll actually be the first athletic event for any Princeton team for the 2023-24 academic year. 

As such, pretty much everything that TB wrote about Princeton Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack and Colgate interim AD Yariv Amir for Friday's blog doesn't quite seem as relevant with the game that is actually coming up. 

When you do this kind of job, you're going to make mistakes. It's just how it works. The keys are to 1) have a pretty good track record and 2) own up to it when you're wrong.

For the record, Princeton and Colgate do not play this fall in women's soccer. Neither does the men's soccer team, or the field hockey team, or the football team, or the women's rugby team, or the women's volleyball team, or the men's water polo team. 

Yeah, TB has no idea why he thought it was Colgate. The women's soccer team opens with Monmouth and then plays two more home games within a week, as La Salle (Aug. 27) and Rutgers (Aug. 31) follow the opener. 

Princeton and Rutgers will play soccer on consecutive days in Princeton 

Also last week, TigerBlog mentioned that one day, he'd look up the all-time series history between Princeton and Rutgers. That's all-time, as in every sport the schools have played against each other, dating to the first football game back in 1869.

On the women's side, the first Princeton-Rutgers matchup was a 5-0 women's tennis win over Douglass back in 1971. That was the first varsity season of Princeton's first varsity team, and the match against Doulgass (that was the Rutgers women's college that sort of still exists) was the fifth in program history.

TigerBlog only considered head-to-head matchups between the two, where there would be one winner and one loser — or, in the case of 28 times, a tie. 

When you add it all up — which TB actually did the other day — it comes to 913 such events. The all-time record? 

Princeton leads 551-334-28.

That's a lot of games and a lot of Princeton wins. The winning percentage for the Tigers is .619. 

It's not easy to play that many games against a school that has almost always, at least for the last 50 years or so, been in a "bigger time" league than you are. The record speaks volumes for the commitment that Princeton has to intercollegiate athletics in the way it's done here, a way that values the truest student-athlete experience. 

Also, 913 games are a lot.

Who has the best record? That would be in tennis.

That first Princeton win was the start of something big, as the Princeton women are 40-2 all-time against the Scarlet Knights — and that's not even the best record for a Princeton tennis team. That would be the men's record, which is 33-0-1 against Rutgers. Together, that's 73-2-1.

The men, by the way, don't play Rutgers this year, so that unbeaten record will stand.

The baseball and men's basketball teams have the most wins, with 75 each. The men's basketball team is 75-45 all-time against the Scarlet Knights, and they'll play for the first time in a decade on Nov. 6 at the CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton.

Princeton and Rutgers haven't played football against each other in a very long time (1980), but the Tigers did have an overwhelming 53-17-1 record. The lone tie, by the way, is a very famous moment in Princeton football history.

It was back in Palmer Stadium on the opening game of the 1974 season for the Tigers (it was Rutgers' second game). Neither team could score in the first half, though Princeton did manage to hit the Rutgers' kicker, which resulted in torn cartilege in his knee. And what was his name? That would be Bill Bradley, of all names.

Anyway, Rutgers scored on a 94-yard punt return in the third quarter, but with no placekicker available, one of the RU cornerbacks tried the extra point, which was no good. 

As such, it was a 6-0 Rutgers game late into the fourth, when Ron Beible finally got the Princeton offense going. Starting on their own 37 with four minutes left, the Tigers got one first down, when, with 2:31 left, Rutgers fans stormed the field and tore down one of the goalposts. Then, one play later, they took down the other set. 

This, by the way, was the second straight year that Rutgers fans tore down the Palmer posts. A year earlier, it also came with about two minutes to go, but it didn't affect the outcome: Rutgers won that one 39-14. 

Why did Rutgers do this? Apparently it had to do with how the Princeton fans had tormented the Rutgers mascot in years prior. 

After the 1973 debacle, Princeton seemed to be ready. The goalposts were taken off the practice field, and an extra pair was stored just under the stadium in case they were needed. 

Despite the fact that Princeton's then Director of Athletics Royce Flippin said that the new posts could be installed in five minutes, the referee said no, meaning the game continued with no goalposts at either end. When Princeton scored a touchdown in the final seconds, there was no place to kick an extra point, which led to all sorts of confusion.

Could Princeton kick and the refs judge if it would have been good? Nope. The only option was to go for two, and the try failed. Final score: Princeton 6, Rutgers 6.

And that is a great story.