Lax Openers

So today is 2/22/22. 

TigerBlog has no reason for mentioning that other than that it looks cool. The last time there was such a day was Jan. 11, 2011 (1/11/11). The next time? 

Well, unless someone adds two days to March in the next 11 years, thus creating 3/33/33, you're going to have to wait 89 years, until Jan. 11, 2111.

Having said that, the Princeton men's and women's lacrosse teams combined to score 39 goals in their opening wins this weekend.

The final scores were Princeton 22, Monmouth 6, in men's lacrosse Saturday. Then, on Sunday in Charlottesville, Princeton's women knocked off No. 10 Virginia 17-11.

Sam Fish made 15 saves, one off her career high, in the women's win. That's a great sign for the Tigers. 

Those 39 goals were spread out among 16 players. Of those 16, almost half - seven - scored his or her first college goal. One of them was a senior, Marge Donovan, who is one of the best defenders Princeton has ever had. 

She also happens to be one of the best players on the draw that Princeton has ever had, and she turned one of those draw wins into her first career goal. It's a defender's dream come true.

MARGE IS PUMPED UP 😤@princetonwlax up 7-4 in its first game in 7️⃣1️⃣5️⃣ days, and Marge Donovan dodges through the @UVAWomensLax defense to ignite the Tigers’ sideline. pic.twitter.com/V5hvF5n1Ir

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) February 20, 2022

Among the other first-time goal scorers were Nina Montes, whom TigerBlog wrote about last week. McKenzie Blake, a freshman, had three goals in her debut, and Sophie Whiteway had one. 

So, too, did Ellie Mueller. If that last name is familiar to you, it should be: Her father Kit Mueller is one of Princeton's legendary men's basketball players. Kit was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991. He also led Princeton to Ivy League championships in his final three seasons (1989-91) and was a key part of the NCAA tournament 50-49 loss to No. 1 Georgetown in 1989 (and maybe he got fouled at the end).

Kit Mueller is also one of the first Princeton athletes about whom TB wrote (but not the very first; that was a different Princeton center, current head football coach Bob Surace, back in 1989). Back then, TB would never have considered that one day both he and Mueller would have daughters who would be Princeton teammates.

On the men's side, Princeton had two first-time goal scorers. One was freshman Coulter Mackesy, who scored twice and had an assist. The other was Christian Ronda, a junior who had played in one game in 2020 without taking a shot. Against Monmouth he had five goals (and an assist) on just six shots.

The win over Virginia move Princeton from 16th to 11th in the coaches' poll. The Princeton men were unranked in pretty much every preseason poll other than the coaches' poll, in which they were 18th. Their win over Monmouth got them to 20th in the media poll.

For the Princeton men, there are few things that matter less than what current polling says. The Tigers will have every chance to prove themselves moving forward.

Princeton is home this evening at 5 against Binghamton. After that, there will be five straight Saturdays of a different team ranked in this week's media poll Top 10.

It starts this weekend at No. 1 Maryland. Then it's a trip next weekend to No. 3 Georgetown. Then it's home against No. 5 Rutgers. Then the Ivy League starts with No. 10 Penn at home. Then it's a trip to No. 6 Yale.

If you're wondering how good Princeton is, you're about to have every chance to find out. This is a someone rebuilt Princeton team with a lot of new faces and several older faces in new roles. The next five weeks will be fascinating, though it hardly gets easier after that, as the sixth Saturday has Princeton at Brown, the team that has kept the Tigers out of the Ivy tournament the last two seasons.

The women are home the next two Saturdays, against Temple and then Cornell in the Ivy opener before their trip to California for spring break.