The National Runner-Up

The Princeton football team came out of the locker room at Franklin Field to start the second half Saturday and ran right past TigerBlog, who was standing on the sideline.

He was facing the other way, and when he heard the rumbling behind him, he turned around to see the wave of players go by. The first person he saw, somewhat randomly, was sophomore running back Trey Gray.

A few moments later, Gray took a huge hit on the kickoff to start the second half and was motionless on the turf for a few very scary minutes. Very, very scary minutes.

Fortunately, there's a happy ending to this story. Gray was taken off the field on a stretcher and kept overnight in the hospital, but by then he'd already moved his arms and legs and spoken to his coach and the medical staffs from both teams, who did an amazing job in those first few moments.

And, even better, there was Gray yesterday afternoon at the Princeton football banquet, receiving a large ovation from his teammates.

Princeton won the game by the way, defeating Penn 28-7 to finish an 8-2 season and push the record to 18-2 over the last two years, giving Princeton 18 wins over a two-year stretch for the first time since 1950 and 1951.

Bob Surace ran his record for his first 100 games at Princeton to 56-44. Considering he started out 2-20, that's really impressive.

TB texted Surace yesterday afternoon when Surace was in team meetings, and Surace only had one question for him:

What's the field hockey score?

Surace of course meant the Princeton-North Carolina field hockey game, which was at halftime when TB got Surace's text.

Princeton and North Carolina met yesterday in the NCAA championship game. It was Princeton's fourth appearance in the field hockey final and first since the Tigers won it all in 2012.

When TB texted Surace, it was 2-1 UNC. TB, who was watching the game, figured that whoever scored next would win. That's how it played out, as the Tar Heels pulled away to win 6-1.

UNC has now put together back-to-back 23-0 seasons and NCAA titles.

Princeton got to the final by knocking off Virginia 2-1 in Friday's second semifinal, after UNC had taken out Boston College 6-3.

Interestingly, the team that scored first lost all three games at the Final Four.

Princeton gave up the first goal to UVa Friday but fought back. It was the Cavaliers who had the better of it early but who couldn't open up any real distance thanks to some great saves from Grace Baylis, and Princeton tied it when Hannah Davey used a burst of speed through the middle and a great pass into the circle that Ali McCarthy ripped into the cage.

The game-winner came from Julianna Tornetta, who sent a shot across her body off a scramble to make it 2-1.

For Princeton, that was win No. 13 in a row. The winning streak would end against Carolina, but that takes nothing away from what the Tigers were able to put together this year.

Or, for that matter, what Princeton has done in Carla Tagliente's first four years.

If you're keeping track, Princeton under Tagliente has either won the Ivy League or reached the Final Four - or in the case of this year done both - each of her first four years. Her totals are one NCAA final, two Ivy titles and three Final Fours.

And one baby. You can see the baby all over the team's social media.

In fact, you can also see on social media what a cohesive team this is. It's a team with a great tradition and culture, and all of the winning is directly related to both.

Reaching the NCAA championship game is a major accomplishment. Falling short against a team like North Carolina doesn't change any of that.

Yes, winning it all would have been great. Still, don't minimize what a run like Princeton's means to the players and coaches who have experienced it.

There's the travel to the Final Four site - in this case Wake Forest. There's the banquet before the Final Four. There are the practices and then the on-site stuff, and finally the semifinal games themselves, which bring a different level of intensity than any they've experienced before.

It comes from being one of the only four teams that has gotten that far. And then one of the only two. It is not an easy thing to accomplish, in any sport, in any year.

Congratulations to the Princeton field hockey team.

What they did was incredible.