Defensive Players Of The Week

Matthew Winston intercepted a pass with a little less than five minutes to go and his team ahead of Harvard by two points Saturday afternoon.

A touchdown there would probably have sealed a 16th straight win for Princeton. Winston at first looked like he might be able to go the distance, only to have Harvard close him off.

So what did he do? Something very, very smart.

He cradled the ball with two hands as he went down, so he couldn't give it back to Harvard. After the 28 yard return, Princeton had the ball at the Harvard 18. Three plays later, Kevin Davidson found Dylan Classi for the touchdown that did in fact seal it.

Final - Princeton 30, Harvard 24.

That was the 16th straight win for Princeton. It was also the third straight over Harvard. Since the formation of the Ivy League, Princeton has had three winning streaks against Harvard of at least three games, and none more than four.

The Tigers could equal that four straight next year in Cambridge. That, of course, is the last thing on anyone's mind right now.

The last thing about the Harvard game is that Jeremiah Tyler was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. TigerBlog was so certain that Tyler would win that he wrote the story before he ever got the email from the Ivy League office announcing this week's selections.

Tyler had 13 tackles in the game, six unassisted and two for loss. He also had an interception.

Tyler plays with an obvious joy that is impossible to miss when you see him play each week. It's part of what makes him stand out.

The other part is that he's a dominant player. His numbers against Harvard might have been better than his average, but he makes that kind of impact on every game.

And with that, the page is completely turned, ahead to the next challenge, which comes up Friday night in Ithaca, when Princeton takes on Cornell. The Big Red are coming off a 37-35 win over Brown, a game won on a last minute field goal from Nickolas Null, the same Cornell player whose last minute field goal beat Princeton two years ago.

The football win wasn't the only big win by a Princeton team over Harvard Saturday.

The field hockey team had possibly a bigger one, since the winner of the game was going to have the inside track to a lot of big prizes. Also, Princeton and Harvard have some pretty good recent history.

Harvard has won the Ivy League title in two of the last three years - only to have Princeton, and not Harvard, reach the NCAA Final Four in those years, including last year.

In fact, Princeton lost its Ivy League game to Harvard last year and saw the Crimson go 7-0 in the league, only to have Princeton take down Harvard in the NCAA quarterfinals.

This year, both teams were unbeaten in the Ivy League, nationally ranked and looking to get the inside track on the NCAA tournament bid. They met Saturday at Harvard, and Princeton rallied with two goals a little more than six minutes apart, one in the third quarter and then the winner in the fourth, to take a dramatic 3-2 win.

Princeton is now 5-0 in the league, with games against Cornell and Penn, both of whom are 3-2 in the league. One win in those two games gives Princeton at least a share of the Ivy League championship, and with that would come the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid.

As was the case in football, the field hockey team also had the winner of the league's Defensive Player of the Week award. In this case, it went to MaryKate Neff, who was part of a defensive effort that held Harvard to just three shots on goal in the game.

Also, like Tyler with his interception that led to a field goal, Neff turned defense into offense. In fact, she scored the game-winner, tipping in a drive from Sammy Popper off a very well-designed penalty corner.

It was the second goal of the year for Neff, a junior from Villanova.

The first chance to clinch the Ivy title share and win the automatic bid is the game this Sunday against Cornell on Bedford Field, at noon.