A Field Hockey/Men's Soccer Doubleheader

Are you still not following Shelley Szwast on Twitter? 

How is that possible if you're a Princeton fan? She's a source of endless great Princeton Athletics content.

She can be found at @split2ndphoto. She's definitely a professional photographer, but she's also a fan first and foremost, something that is very obvious when you talk to her or when you look at her social media. Again, you're missing out if you don't.

Go ahead. Follow her. TigerBlog will give you a few seconds to do so ...

... all done? Good.

Shelley takes a lot of photos of Princeton's teams, and she packages them nicely on her social media feed (you can find her on Instagram too). Like this, for instance:

Sunday Funday with 🐯🏑!! pic.twitter.com/n6bRPAw5iv

— Split Second Photo (@Split2ndPhoto) September 18, 2022

This past Sunday was somewhat typical for her, as she shot field hockey against Northwestern at noon and then women's soccer against Delaware at 7.

In between? She sat in the Class of 1952 Stadium press box and did some work, mostly on the photos she'd just taken. Now that's dedication. She deserves to be followed.

If you've never been to Class of 1952 Stadium, it's made up of two fields, Sherrerd Field and Bedford Field. The press box is in the middle and has windows on both sides, so you can see either field.

There is another doubleheader coming up today, one that would be easier for Shelley, and anyone who wants to watch both games. It begins on the Bedford Field side at 4 with a field hockey game against Maryland then continuing at 7 with a men's soccer game on Sherrerd Field against Loyola.

When TB first started covering Princeton Athletics, the entire facility was nothing more than a mix of grass, dirt and rocks, used mostly to park heavy equipment. Back then, Princeton field hockey played on Gulick Field and Princeton soccer played on Lourie-Love Field, which sat side-by-side diagonally opposite where Class of 1952 is now. They were completely no-frills facilities, though they did have their charm. 

Meanwhile, back at today's game, the field hockey team was ranked No. 8 last week. After a 3-1 win over Delaware and a 2-1 OT loss to No. 1 Northwestern, it'll be interesting to see what today's new rankings look like.

Princeton brings a 3-3 record into the game today. The three losses are to the teams ranked No. 1, No. 2 (North Carolina) and No. 4 (Louisville). Those three are a combined 22-0. All three beat Princeton by one goal.

So if you've played No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4, you might as well play No. 3, right? That's what Maryland is. The Terrapins are also unbeaten, improving to 8-0 with a 4-2 win over Ohio State Friday night. The last six Princeton-Maryland games have all been one goal games, including four straight in overtime.

As a sub-plot, Maryland head coach Missy Meharg coached Princeton head coach Carla Tagliene and associate head coach Dina Rizzo when they were Terrapins, including to the 1999 NCAA title. 

As for the men's soccer game, this is a matchup of two teams who reached the NCAA tournament a year ago after winning their conference championships.

Loyola, for its part, is coming off its first Patriot League championship, won a year ago by knocking off American in the tournament final. Loyola then played 120 scoreless minutes with North Carolina in the NCAA tournament before losing in penalty kicks.

Princeton went 7-0-0 last year in the Ivy League before its own first-round loss, 1-0 to St. John's.

The Tigers this year are 1-2-1. A year ago, Princeton was 3-4 heading into the Ivy League. 

If you can't make it today, you get another chance to do this again Friday, when the field hockey team plays Penn in its Ivy League opener at 4 and then the men's soccer team is home against Rider at 7.

After that, the men's soccer team heads back to Queens to take on St. John's Tuesday before its own Ivy opener against Dartmouth in Hanover a week from Saturday. 

If you're at Class of 1952 today, you'll get to see two excellent matchups, with no admission charge for either. And if you look on the sidelines, you'll see Shelley doing her thing.

Give her a follow.