Bride 107, Groom 106

If you look at the top of the Princeton field hockey list of all-time scoring leaders, you'll see the name Kathleen Sharkey.

In her four years as a Tiger, Sharkey - known as Kat - put up 245 career points before graduating in 2012. Her 107 career goals are also the program record.

In fact, nobody is even close to Sharkey. The next-best total for points is 198, by the great Kirsty Hale, Class of 1999, and then it drops down to 173, by the equally great Ilvy Friebe, Class of 2003.

In goals, it's even more dramatic. Sharkey's 107 not only make her the only Princeton field hockey player ever with at least 100 goals but also the only one with at least 90, or even 80. Hale and Friebe are tied for second, at 71.

When TigerBlog thinks of unbreakable Princeton records, he thinks of Bill Bradley and his 2,503 career points in men's basketball first and foremost. Here it is, 55 years after Bradley set that record, and nobody has scored more than the 1,625 that Ian Hummer did. If you're looking at all of Princeton basketball, you can go with the 1,703 that Bella Alarie scored for the women.

Alarie, as great as she was at Princeton, only made it 68 percent of the way to Bradley's total. And Bradley only had three varsity seasons, with no three-point shot.

Friebe and Hale, with 71 goals, are even further away from Sharkey than Alarie is to Bradley. They are just past 66 percent of the way, just short of two-thirds.

Consider how good Princeton field hockey has been through the years, with all those Ivy titles and NCAA Final Fours. The most recent Princeton team reached the NCAA championship game last year, and no player on that team has more than 34 career goals.

To have one player so far out in front of everyone else in a program that has been that great through the years is extraordinary.

As for Sharkey, she's a key reason why Princeton won the NCAA championship in 2012. The Tigers defeated Maryland 3-2 in the semifinal and then North Carolina 3-2 in the final, and Sharkey had three of the team's six goals in those two games. She had nine in the five NCAA games during that title run.

She'd go on from Princeton to play for the United States national team, even playing in the 2016 Summer Olympic games. She was a three-time first-team All-American and a four-time first-team All-Ivy League selection.

This past Friday night, Kat Sharkey married former Princeton men's lacrosse player Tom Schreiber. There have been countless marriages between former Princeton athletes prior to this one. Has there ever been one where both the bride and groom were three-time first-team All-Americans and four-time first-team All-Ivy League selections?

That's the case with Mr. and Mrs. Schreiber. 

Congratulations to @TomSchreiber26 and his wife @ksharkeyy on getting married yesterday! 🏹💙 pic.twitter.com/Xz6Y9T46Q2

— Archers Lacrosse Club (@PLLArchers) October 3, 2020

The groom is one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time. 

He has been the Most Valuable Player and a league champion in Major League Lacrosse. He has been the Rookie of the Year in the indoor National Lacrosse League. He has been the Midfielder of the Year both years of the Premier Lacrosse League.

Internationally, he is known as "Captain America" with the U.S. national team. At the most recent World Championships, it was his goal with one second remaining in the final that gave the U.S. the 9-8 win over Canada.

More than just his ability, he is also universally known in the lacrosse world for his humility and modesty as a player, something that once was known as "sportsmanship." He is in many ways one of those players who seems to be too good to be true, someone who combines all of his ability with a humble way on the field and off. 

If you've ever seen Schreiber interact with fans, especially young fans, then you know exactly what TigerBlog means.  He's certainly seen it time and time again. Certainly any time TB has asked Schreiber for a favor, he's dropped everything and done it immediately, no questions asked. He's almost apologetic if he can't do it within seconds.

And now he and Kat Sharkey are married. For him, this means, of course, that he has committed to going the rest of his life having to accept one excruciating thing about his wife.

She scored one more goal in college than he did. 

Schreiber finished his career with 106 goals at Princeton. That has to be tough, no? 

And yes, Schreiber is the best passing midfielder TigerBlog has ever seen. And so he coupled those 106 goals with 94 assists, as opposed to the 31 for Mrs. Schreiber. 

In college field hockey, points are awarded by giving two for a goal and one for an assist, whereas in lacrosse it's one for a goal and one for an assist.  If lacrosse did it the same way, then Schreiber would have had 306 points, instead of 200, and he would have far surpassed his wife.

TB wishes nothing but the best for the newlyweds. Certainly they are a thoroughly Princetonian couple, perhaps, with the four first-team All-Ivy selections and three first-team All-American selections each, a history making couple.

It's just that the score is Bride 107, Groom 106.