Iron Men

The men's soccer game against Delaware Tuesday night had just started when TigerBlog noticed something fascinating on the Blue Hens' bench.

There was one player on it. Just one - and he was the backup goalkeeper.

In other words, Delaware had only 10 healthy field players for this one, and so they'd all have to go all 90 minutes. And that's what happened.

Of course, even playing against a team with no subs, the Tigers had to go out and win the game, which the Tigers did 3-0. Daniel Diaz Bonilla scored his first career goal to start the evening, and Spencer Fleurant finished it with his first two-goal game.

Yes, Princeton was able to use eight players off the bench and, not surprisingly, outshot Delaware 11-2 in the second half. Does not going to the bench automatically mean a loss though?

Any Princeton men's basketball fan can tell you the answer to that is a resounding "no."

Back in the first round of the 1999 NIT, Princeton found itself playing at home against Georgetown. In that game, Princeton head coach Bill Carmody played the same five players for all 40 minutes each, while Georgetown substituted frequently.

The result?

Princeton 54, Georgetown 47.

TigerBlog sat in the first seat on press row next to the Princeton bench. At one point, it began to dawn on him that the Tigers had not subbed at all in the game, and he was trying to figure out if Carmody and his staff realized it - and if so, was this the plan.

In the end, two of Princeton's five players had four fouls, but there was no sense of subbing for them. Instead, the same five went start to finish.

Today's trivia question - can you name the five players? TigerBlog will list them at the end (hint - one of them had six points and 18 rebounds, and only one Princeton men's basketball player that TB has ever seen could have put up that stat line).

It's the only game TigerBlog can think of where a team, in any sport, never subbed. Maybe he's overlooking something obvious? And he's not counting squash or golf or tennis or a sport where your lineup is simply your lineup.

Anyway, that's what TB thought of when he saw Delaware go with 11 players Tuesday night.

Next up for the men's soccer team is a second-straight road Ivy road trip, this time to Brown. It's a doubleheader with the women, with the women's game at 3:00. 

The women defeated Dartmouth 1-0 last Saturday, evening their Ivy record at 1-1. In that game, Natalie Grossi recorded her 30th career shutout, making her the first Ivy goalkeeper male or female to reach 30 career shutouts.

Whenever you're the only person in Ivy League history to do something, that's a pretty amazing thing to have on your resume.

As for the women's soccer team, there are two currently unbeaten teams in the Ivy League - Brown and Harvard. That obviously makes the game Saturday a big one. Princeton heads to Providence knowing that if it wins out, it wins at least a share of the league championship.

Princeton will be home this weekend in two Ivy League sports.

The field hockey team is home at 1 Saturday against Columbia. The Tigers, who are ranked seventh this week, are 2-0 in the Ivy League, set to take on the 1-1 Lions.

Princeton should be extremely well-rested, at least by its standards, since it hasn't played since Sunday. That's six whole days. The six days prior that? It featured three games, all of which were decided by one goal, including a 5-4 OT win over then-No. 2 Duke.

The women's volleyball team hosts Brown Saturday and then Yale Sunday at 1 on ESPNU. Princeton is currently 2-1 in the league, behind 3-0 unbeatens Cornell and Yale - with a very long way to go in the race.

There are other events this weekend too, on the road though. The men's water polo team plays Iona and St. Francis in Brooklyn Saturday and then at Fordham Sunday. There's a big men's and women's tennis event in Oklahoma.

And of course the football team hosts Lafayette tomorrow at 7 on Powers Field.

By the way, the answer to the trivia question: Brian Earl, Ahmed El-Nokali, Gabe Lewullis, Mason Rocca (he had the 6/18), Chris Young.