A Rare Opportunity

As a Princeton fan, you have the opportunity to do something each of the next two Saturdays that you've only been able to do once before.

Any guesses?

The last time was back on another Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. It didn't happen at all last year, and after tomorrow and a week from tomorrow, it won't happen again this year. Who knows about next year?

And so TigerBlog asks again. Any guesses?

Hmmm. Need another hint? It has to do with two already record-setting Princeton athletes.

Give up?

Okay. Tomorrow, and then a week from tomorrow, will be the second and third times that you'll be able to see Michael Sowers of the men's lacrosse team and Bella Alarie of the women's basketball team play at home on the same day. The only time it's happened before was two years ago, when they were both freshmen. It didn't happen at all last year, and next year's schedule isn't set yet.

The men's lacrosse team is home at noon tomorrow against Virginia in a matchup of nationally ranked teams. Then, at 5:30, you can see Princeton-Columbia women's basketball.

Sowers and then Alarie. You can even get a nosh in between.

Plus, if you're going to go to those two games, you might as well stay for the men's basketball game against Columbia as well. Tip on that one is at 8.

Or, if you prefer, you can do men's lacrosse, women's basketball and the final day of the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships at DeNunzio Pool. You have plenty of choices.

Any opportunity to see Sowers and Alarie should be jumped at, of course.

Sowers already owns the top two single-season scoring totals in Princeton men's lacrosse history and the school record for assists in a season and is on pace to shatter the existing school record for career points, currently held by Kevin Lowe, who will be back for his 25th Reunion this June. Alarie already owns the Princeton records for points in game and career record for blocked shots, and she too may destroy the existing record for points in a career.

They are friends, the 6-4 Alarie and the 5-9 Sowers. And they are among the very best of the very best athletes TigerBlog has seen compete here.

Sowers opened his season with two goals and five assists in a 23-7 shelling of Monmouth. The game tomorrow figures to be much closer, against a UVa team that comes in smarting at 1-2 after losses to top-ranked Loyola and highly ranked High Point. Virginia is stocked with talent everywhere, and it would not shock TB to see the Cavs make it all the way to Lincoln Financial Field for the Final Four Memorial Day weekend, even after the slow start.

As for Sowers, just one game into his junior year he is already one of four Princeton players ever to reach 100 career assists. He's on pace to beat Lowe's scoring record by about 100 points.

And then there's Alarie, who is averaging 29.3 points per game in her Ivy games this season and who already has two 40+ point nights. Her scoring outburst has left her with 1,097 career points.

Will she get the record?

Sandi Bittler Leland is currently Princeton's all-time leading scorer in women's basketball with 1,683 career points. That puts her 586 ahead of Alarie as of right now.

If Alarie continues to score 29.3 points per league game, she'd get another 615 in just the next seven Ivy games and then the 14 next year. That doesn't count the Ivy tournament, any postseason and any non-conference for next year.

The men's lacrosse team and the women's basketball team are both about more than just their star players, and the games this weekend aren't just about how many points those two can get.

The men's lacrosse team is heading down one of the most difficult stretches TB can remember for an early season, with the UVa game followed by Johns Hopkins at home, consecutive trips to Navy, Rutgers and Penn and then home games against Yale, Denver and Brown to end March.

The women's basketball team is playing to get into the Ivy League tournament (pretty likely) and to win the regular-season championship (one game back of Penn heading into the weekend and then to the Palestra Tuesday).

The men's basketball team is also playing to get into the Ivy League tournament. As in the women's race, there is a two-game drop from fourth place to fifth, which is good if you're in the top four, which the Tigers are. It's even better when you're the Tigers and you're holding the tiebreaker against Penn, so your lead is more like three games.

TigerBlog will be doing the men's lacrosse/women's basketball/men's basketball tripleheader tomorrow. He'll have the basketball doubleheader tonight.

Is that a lot?

Hey, when you can see Michael Sowers and Bella Alarie on the same day, you have to take advantage of it.