Spring Is Ahead

Wait, can it really be true? 

TigerBlog glanced at the forecast moving forward and saw that the high temperature in a week will be, egads, 68 degrees? This is a joke, right? 

That's not exactly why Princeton's Cooper Mueller and Jackson Green are jumping for joy there, but hey, it might as well be. Is it possible that TB has shoveled snow for the last time in the winter of 2026? That would be totally acceptable to him.

Even this weekend will be reasonable. Sunshine and 47 today? That works. 

Of course, after getting 25 inches of snow the other day, only a foot would have seemed at least a little reasonable. Speaking of the most recent snowfall, hopefully your power is back on if it went out. 

Lauren Jobes, Princeton's Coordinator of Marketing and Fan Engagement, is one of those who lost power. TB asked her yesterday if it had come back on, and this was her response after saying that it did Wednesday night: 

I felt like a medieval peasant. 

That was laugh out loud funny. 

Meanwhile, TB mentioned what's going on at the "winter" teams in yesterday's entry. Today, it's time for the spring teams, even if springing ahead is technically next weekend. 

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It was the idea of Syracuse athletic communications mensch John Stark to refer to this weekend's men's lacrosse games as the "ACC/Ivy League Challenge," and so it shall be known thusly. Regardless of what you call it, there are four really good games on the schedule in the next three days. 

It starts today, when No. 7 Princeton hosts No. 6 Syracuse at 4, while No. 19 Penn hosts No. 1 North Carolina at 5. The second games will be Sunday, with UNC at Princeton and Syracuse at Penn, both at noon. 

This is Year 3 of this event, with two big changes: 1) Syracuse replaces Duke and 2) the games are being played here and in Philadelphia, as opposed to in North Carolina. 

The best game in college lacrosse last year was Syracuse's 19-18 win over Princeton in the NCAA quarterfinals (at least if you were a neutral fan or a Syracuse fan). As much as that loss stung (and still stings), there is something about being part of such an extraordinary event. That game featured 37 goals on 93 shots, of which 63 were on goal. 

Of more recent interest, the Ivy League went 7-0 a week ago, including matching 13-12 wins by Princeton over then-No. 2 Maryland and Harvard over then-No. 1 Syracuse. Those two decisions enabled North Carolina to move into the top spot in the media poll.

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Speaking of John Stark, by the way, he is also the Syracuse field hockey contact. The last five meetings between one of his team's and one of TB's teams have all been decided by one goal — three in field hockey, the NCAA game last spring and even a men's lacrosse scrimmage this past fall. 

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The baseball team is heading back to North Carolina, one week after going 1-2 at North Carolina State. This time, the Tigers will be about 30 minutes from that campus, with four games at Duke. 

First pitch for Game 1 will be today at 4, with a doubleheader tomorrow at 1 and a single game Sunday at 1. Duke is 8-2 on the season. 

As TB mentioned earlier this week, Princeton's 1-0 win over No. 17 NC State was courtesy of two freshmen pitchers, Brady Kaufman and Ryan Penney, who shut out the Wolfpack on three hits between them. Both were honored by the Ivy League, with Kaufman the Pitcher of the Week and Penney the Rookie of the Week.  

The Tiger run came on the first career home run from sophomore Isaac Lamson. 

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The men's tennis team has a top 40 matchup in Tennessee, where the No. 19 Tigers will take on the No. 39 Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State today at 6 Eastern, 5 Central. 

TB hopes that air travel is kinder to the Tigers this time than it has been the last two times a Princeton tennis team has flown this year — the men were stuck in California by the first blizzard, and the women were stuck (stuck?) in Florida after the most recent one. 

The women are at Penn State tomorrow.  

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The complete weekend schedule is HERE.