Mind The Gap

TigerBlog was walking along the other day when he came upon an interesting sight.

He was walking on a pathway. About 10 yards ahead of him stood a man and woman on one side of the path and another man and woman on the other side. 

They were both walking dogs, one small and one big. As TB approached, the dogs stood in the middle, nose to nose. That's not what dogs usually do, right?  

As TB kept walking towards this group, the dogs continued their stare-down. At that point, TB stopped and bent down, at which point the dogs looked at him. 

And this is what he said to them: 

"Okay, go to your neutral corners and at the bell, come out barking."

And this was the response from the four humans:

" ............ "

Nothing. Not even a smile. Oh well.

TB also saw a young man who was running while wearing a shirt that said: "Mind the Gap." TB laughed out loud at that. 

If you've ever been on a train in England, then you get it. TB stopped him to tell him how much he liked the shirt, and the young man, clearly English, asked if TB had a favorite Premier League team. 

TB said "Bournemouth." Then he realized he could have said "Waterdogs."

That would have confused the Brit. It also wouldn't have been completely true. TB roots for every Premier League team with Princeton alums on it. 

Clearly, the young bloke meant the soccer league in England. TB could have flipped it around to mean the Premier Lacrosse League, whose playoffs began Saturday in Minneapolis.

The Utah Archers feature three Princeton alums (Ryan Ambler, Beau Pederson and Tom Schreiber) and a former Princeton head coach (Chris Bates). The Archers won the PLL title in 2023 and 2024 but did not make the playoffs this year, meaning there will be a new champ.

Will there be Princetonians who win it all? That's to be determined. 

There will, though, be at least one Princeton alum in the final come Sept. 14, when the championship game is held at the home of the Red Bulls in Harrison, N.J. 

Will it be Jake Stevens, a member of the New York Atlas? Or will it be Zach Currier and Michael Sowers, along with Bill Tierney, and the Waterdogs? 

Those two will play in the semifinals this coming Saturday at 3 at Suburu Park in Chester, Pa. The first semifinal will match the California Redwoods (with injured Princeton alum Sam English) and the Denver Outlaws (with no Princetonians).

The Atlas won the Eastern Conference title and earned a first-round bye. The Waterdogs took down the Maryland Whipsnakes 14-12 Saturday to earn their spot int he semifinals. 

Dave Giancola, the ESPN+ announcer for Princeton Football and Princeton Men's Lacrosse, texted TB during the game to ask him if Currier was the only player who ever played for Tierney, Bates and current head coach Matt Madalon.

That's a great question. Currier played for both Bates and Madalon at Princeton and now plays for Tierney. TB can't think of anyone else who has done so. 

Sowers, a finalist for PLL MVP and Attackman of the Year, had four goals and four assists against the Whipsnakes, whom he tortured this season to the tune of 20 points in three games. Sowers now has played in seven career PLL playoff games, with these totals: 22 goals, 15 assists, 37 points. 

Is that good? 

The Waterdogs are 6-1 in playoff games in which he's played, by the way. He was the 2022 PLL Championship Game MVP as well. 

As for Currier, he doesn't have the points totals that Sowers does, but he does have an extraordinary number of groundballs, considering he's not a face-off specialist or a longstick. In eight PLL playoff games, He has 48 GBs, including seven Saturday night. 

He does have 13 points to go with that, on nine goals and four assists. He didn't score Saturday night, as the Waterdogs got all 14 of their goals from three players on attack: Sowers, Kieran McArdle (6) and C.J. Kirst (4).  

If you're looking for tickets for the semifinals, you can find them HERE.