No Time To Rest

It's been nearly a week since the Princeton men's lacrosse team last played, which means that there's been just about enough time to exhale after the way that one went.

And, given that this is the Ivy League in 2022, it also means that there is no time to dwell on the last one. The next one will be just as tough.

Ivy League men's lacrosse to date this season has been nothing short of nuts. Of the seven league teams, six of them are currently ranked, and the seventh is on the verge of being ranked. Even though Dartmouth lost to Ohio State in midweek, the Ivy League teams are 27-7 against teams from other leagues, including 17-1 in March. 

Last weekend was the first weekend of conference games. All three were matchups between ranked teams. All three ended up as one-goal games. All three ended up as wins for the home team.

Princeton's game last Saturday – a 21-20 win over Penn in overtime – was insane. It was easily the best game played in college lacrosse so far this season.  

No game in the entire history of Princeton men's lacrosse has ever had more goals than the 41 the two teams scored. No game in program history prior to last Saturday saw both teams reach 20 goals.

Princeton looked like it was going to run away with it at 9-3 in the second quarter. Penn looked like it was ready to pull away after taking two second-half leads, including one at 17-16 just a few seconds into the fourth quarter.

There were 41 goals on 94 shots. That's a .436 combined shooting percentage between the teams. Maryland, at .403, has the country's best shooting percentage for the year.

Penn had one player with seven goals and nine points (Cam Rubin) and another with three goals and eight assists (Sam Handley). Chris Brown, who scored the game-winner, led the Tigers with six goals (career high) and nine points (also a career high).

There were 99 ground balls between the teams. Think about that. On 99 separate occasions the teams had to contest a loose ball. In a one-goal game, any one of those that went the other way might have made a difference.

It was an intense game as well. The weather was perfect, and the stands at Sherrerd Field were full. It was loud. As someone who has seen every men's game played at the facility except for one, TB can tell you that it has never been louder.

To win on a day like that took a lot. Princeton has really shown you something in the last four weeks. It started with a 15-10 loss to Maryland, but as TB said before that game started, Princeton needed that game to set itself up for what was to come.

What happened next? A 10-8 win at No. 3 Georgetown (the Hoyas' only loss). Then a 16-11 win over No. 3 Rutgers (again, that's RU's only loss so far). Then the game against Penn, who was ranked sixth.

Princeton has rocketed from unranked in the preseason to No. 2 by the media and No. 3 by the coaches. When those preseason rankings came out, TB was amused more than anything else. He'd seen the Tigers play in the fall and knew they'd be good. He also knew that the schedule would provide every opportunity.  

And that's exactly what's happened. There are three goals every year – win the Ivy title, get into the Ivy tournament, get into the NCAA tournament. Princeton has taken a major step towards the third with the three Top 10 wins and the first step towards the other two with the Penn wins.

The problem is that the league is just loaded. As TB said, the next one is always going to be tough.

In this case, that next one is at Yale tomorrow at 3:30 (Yale-Penn women play at noon). Yale might be the fourth-highest ranked Ivy team, but the Bulldogs are still 11th in one poll and 14th in another. They're also still the Bulldogs, which means they'll bring their own level of intensity and toughness. They're also at home.

This won't be easy. Nor will next week, when it's a trip to Brown. There have been years where the Ivy champ has been 4-2. This could be one of them. If Princeton-Yale isn't the best game this weekend, then maybe Cornell-Penn is. It's crazy.

Matt Kinnear of Inside Lacrosse perfectly captured the spirit of last Saturday at Sherrerd Field and about the Ivy League in general. 

Saturday's @PennMensLax vs @TigerLacrosse was a cathartic moment. The @IvyLeague is back, and everything feels right in the lacrosse universe https://t.co/eFsirgjObx

— Matt Kinnear (@mattkinnear) March 24, 2022

This will be an amazing year of men's lacrosse in the Ivy League. If you were putting together an NCAA field right now, you might have five league teams in there. 

Each week will be an incredible challenge. 

Last week's Princeton-Penn game was as good as any lacrosse game TB has ever seen. Now both teams need to turn the page - quickly.

That's how it works in the Ivy League in 2022.