As Princeton was playing Dartmouth in men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon, TigerBlog was also following the Harvard-Penn game at the same time.
At one point, he was asked whether it would be better for Princeton if Penn won or if Harvard won. The answer was this "yes, but there's no way of knowing which one until you know what happens the next two weeks as well."
The 2022 Ivy League men's lacrosse season enters the final two weekends with six games to be played, which means there are 64 possible outcomes. This is no difference than in any other year.
Where the difference for 2022 comes in is that in most other years, there are assumptions that can be made about the results of some of the upcoming games. This year? Forget it.
If TB has noticed anything about this season, it's that the results of one week seem to have no impact on what happens the next week. Just when one team looks to be reeling, it comes back with a big win, in the case of Penn, or two, in the case of Brown.
In the beginning of the season, the home team seemed to have an advantage. Now it's impossible to predict anything.
Princeton beats Brown by eight goals? No problem. Brown comes back to take out Penn (12-10) and Yale (20-13) on back-to-back weekends. Penn loses that game to Yale? What happens next? Penn 11, Harvard 8.
There is no unbeaten Ivy League team right now. There are six nationally ranked. And none of those are Dartmouth, whom TB can't even begin to explain. The Big Green, who are huge by the way, have a one-goal loss to Cornell and, after Saturday's 12-10 loss to Princeton, a two-goal loss to the Tigers. There's also a nine-goal loss to Harvard and a 17-goal loss to Yale.
Dartmouth still has games against Penn and Brown. There is no outcome of those games that would surprise TB. Actually, there is nothing that could happen in any of those six games that would be shocking.
There are a few certainties. One of them is that the winner of the Princeton-Cornell game will be assured of at least a share of the Ivy League championship. The other is that if Princeton defeats Harvard this weekend and Cornell defeats Brown this weekend, then the Princeton-Cornell game becomes a winner-take-all championship game (with hosting the Ivy League tournament as a prize).
There's no sense in looking back in this league, not with the next challenge just around the corner. Still, there are a few things from the Princeton-Dartmouth game that are worth revisiting.
One of them is the game Beau Pederson had.
Within 24 hours, it had already passed 5,000 views.
The caption really tells the whole story. That really is the season that Pederson has had. By the way, the Dartmouth player that Pederson knocked down is 6-1, 205.
Pederson had three caused turnovers and four ground balls against the Big Green to earn a spot on the USILA Team of the Week. It's well-earned.
It's also the first national recognition that Pederson has gotten this year. He was not one of the eight Tigers who made the Inside Lacrosse mid-season All-American team, something that TB found astonishing. Take it from TB, who has seen every game: Pederson is having an All-American season. He has been dominant all season.
You could also make a case for Luke Crimmins, Princeton's other shortstick defensive midfielder. Those two are as responsible as anyone for where Princeton finds itself, which is ranked third in every poll and second in the RPI.
Pederson's three caused turnovers against Dartmouth were part of a program single-game record 18. That's where the Tigers won the game. Saves were pretty even (16 for Dartmouth, 15 for Princeton). Dartmouth had one more ground ball (37-36, fueled by a big edge in facing off, though Princeton's Tyler Sandoval won three straight that all led to Princeton goals in the fourth quarter when a 10-9 Dartmouth lead became at 12-10 Princeton win).
With all the caused turnovers, Princeton was able to have a 54-41 edge in shots, and the Tigers needed all of those.
Next up is the trip to Harvard. It's another huge one. Will Princeton have momentum from the win over Dartmouth?
In the Ivy League in 2022, that's not how it works. Each week is its own challenge, and none of them are easy. Last week doesn't matter this week.
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