What's Been Going On?

So here's a quick rundown of TigerBlog's Wednesday:

He and the rest of the Princeton men's lacrosse travel party woke up in Andorra, had breakfast and got on the bus to come back to Barcelona. Before departing, TB made sure to say goodbye to the amiable young man who worked in the hotel restaurant. His name is Gonzolo, and he is off for a week's vacation of his own on the Spanish beaches.

If you've been reading this week, you've read about just how incredibly beautiful Andorra is. TB cannot recommend visiting the tiny country enough if you appreciate nature's best handiwork. If you're a skier, go in the winter.

Okay, so it was about two hours on the bus, back into Spain and then towards Barcelona. Then there was a stop for lunch and then another hour into the city, where the first stop was practice and the second stop was a clinic and some quality time with the children of a local school. Then it was into the hotel and dinner, but not before basic lacrosse demonstrations, lots of pictures, all kinds of smiles and a chant of "Tigres, Tigres."

Today's highlight? That would be the soccer game between Barcelona and Villarreal tonight. The wildest sporting event TB has ever attended was a World Cup qualifier between El Salvador and Costa Rica. He's guessing the game tonight will exceed that.

In the meantime, TB has spent a little time catching up on what's been going on in Princeton Athletics this week.

First, there was the women's basketball team and its No. 24 preseason national ranking. It's a first in Ivy League women's basketball history.

Obviously the Tigers will be without graduated Ivy League Player of the Year Abby Meyers, but everyone else is back, plus a highly regarded incoming class and some players who are back from injuries. The preseason ranking is yet another testament to the growth of the Princeton women's program over the last 12 or so years, to the point where it is now among the very best in the country.

Last year was an incredible one for the Tigers, who went 14-0 in the league, won the Ivy tournament, defeated Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament and lost by one at Indiana to fall just short of the Sweet 16. As ridiculous as it seems, opening night for Princeton is a little more than two weeks away, as the Tigers host Temple on Nov. 7 and then Villanova on Nov. 11.

Then there was the men's soccer team's 5-0 win over Virginia Tech. Walker Gillespie had himself a three-goal night, matching the three that Kevin O'Toole had a year ago against Harvard. 

Next up for the Tigers is a doubleheader on Myslik Field against Cornell, with the women at 1 and the men at 4. Those games are Saturday, TB should mention.

There's a huge field hockey game Sunday, as Princeton hosts Harvard in what you might have expected in the beginning of the year to be the showdown in the Ivy League. Going back to the 2017 season, Princeton and Harvard are 56-0 against the other six Ivy schools.

This year they're both unbeaten at 4-0, though five of those eight wins have come by one goal. But hey, unbeaten is unbeaten.

The winner of this game will need only to win one of its remaining two games to clinch the league's automatic NCAA bid, as well as at least a share of the championship. That was the case last year (and the three years before that as well).

Last year's game showed just how even the two were in 2021. Regulation ended 1-1. Nobody scored in 20 minutes of overtime. Harvard won in penalty shots. That was the margin that got the Crimson the championship.

TB will be at Bedford Field for that game, which starts at noon. First, though, he has two more full days in Barcelona, including the soccer game tonight. He'll let you know just how cool that game is tomorrow.

He'll also be talking about another big Princeton-Harvard game for this weekend.