Final Four, Again

Princeton had run out the final seconds of its 2-0 win over second-seeded Connecticut in the NCAA field hockey quarterfinals, putting the Tigers back into the Final Four for the second straight year and third in the last four years under head coach Carla Tagliente.

At around the same time, the women's basketball team also finished its game, a 67-53 win over an outstanding Florida-Gulf Coast team that went 28-5 last year and almost knocked off Miami in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Princeton did this without Bella Alarie for the last three quarters and Carlie Littlefield for the last 15 minutes or so.

TigerBlog watched both games, with women's hoops on the TV (once he finally figured out how to log-in to ESPN+ on his TV) and field hockey on his computer. When the games ended, he figured he'd check on the rest of the field hockey bracket.

That's when he saw that Virginia had beaten Maryland in overtime, setting up a UVa-Princeton semifinal. And the other semifinal would match North Carolina and the winner of the Louisville-Boston College game, which was just going to OT.

TB figured he'd put the overtime on and root for Boston College, since Nell Webber, one of Miss TigerBlog's best friends from high school, and former high school field hockey and lacrosse teammate, plays for BC.

What happened for the next 35 minutes or so was just riveting.

First, the teams played through two 10-minute 7 v 7 periods where a goal would send the team who scored it to the Final Four. Louisville outshot Boston College 8-3 in those 20 minutes, and actually 8-2 in the first 19:56 of those 20 minutes, before a BC shot as time just about expired hit the post and excruciatingly trickled out instead of in.

Of course, the only reason the game was still going was the extraordinary play of BC goalie Sarah Dwyer, who made 10 saves in the game, three of which came in the two OTs, the first of which was as good a save as you'll ever see in a field hockey game.

Because there needed to be a winner, the teams then went to a shootout. Each player who shot had eight seconds to dribble in from out of the circle and shoot as many times as possible before it either went in or went out of the circle or the horn sounded.

Louisville went up 2-0. BC came back to tie it 2-2. After five players, it was 3-3, which meant that whichever team could get a score and a stop would win. Both teams score in Round 6. BC scored to start Round 7, and Dwyer got the stop that sent the Eagles to the Final Four.

As TB said, it was riveting. It was what makes college athletics so special, with two teams who were competing to get to their sport's biggest collegiate stage and competing really, really hard.

TB will now root for a Princeton-Boston College final.

The Final Four is now three ACC teams and Princeton. The Tigers got there the way they always get there, by playing a ridiculously hard regular season schedule that has them primed for when the lights get brightest.

Dwyer wasn't the only goalie to have a huge day Sunday. Princeton's Grace Baylis was also really sharp, especially on two big back-to-back point blank saves that kept the game scoreless in the first quarter.

Princeton would take the lead when MaryKate Neff scored on a tip-in after a corner in the second quarter and doubled that on Hannah Davey's goal early in the fourth. Princeton outshot UConn 10-8, and Baylis made five saves on the day. 

Princeton is 15-4 on the year, winner of 12 straight. The four losses are all one-goal losses, and three of those came against teams that were seeded first, second and third in the NCAA tournament.

That's how you get your team ready to play in the postseason.

Princeton and Virginia did not meet during the regular season. The have played 15 times, with Princeton ahead in the series 8-7, and with the most recent game last year's NCAA opener on Bedford Field, won by the Tigers 2-1.

The Cavs are 18-4, with losses to Maryland and North Carolina (Princeton also lost to both) and then two to Boston College, one in the regular season and one in the ACC tournament.

This will be Princeton's ninth trip to the Final Four. That is an incredible level of sustained success for a program that has gotten there under three different head coaches and a roster that has turned over many, many times.

It'll be Princeton-Virginia at Wake Forest Friday at 3:45, after the game between BC and North Carolina. The championship game is Sunday at 1.