Congratulations Are In Order

Congratulations to Syracuse on its 2022 NCAA men's soccer championship.

The Orange certainly earned it, winning the first four NCAA games by one goal (including over Penn and Cornell) and then taking the championship game against Indiana in penalty kicks after a 2-2 game. The PK round was 4-4 after each team had five shots, and Syracuse would eventually win it 7-6.

As you should know, TigerBlog hates having penalty kicks decide knockout soccer games, whether it be the World Cup or the NCAA tournament. Fortunately, the first World Cup semifinal between Argentina and Croatia didn't go to PK's; hopefully today's game between defending champion France and massive underdog Morocco doesn't either.

This quote from Syracuse coach Ian McIntyre didn't change TB's thinking on the subject:

"Penalties become a bit of a lottery, but when you've got guys as courageous as these boys, you know you've got a chance."

Is that how championships should be decided? Lotteries? No.

If you're worried about games that drag on forever, then do what field hockey does — put fewer players on the field for OT. 

Speaking of field hockey, congratulations to Beth Yeager for becoming Princeton's first player to be first-team All-American as a freshman and sophomore. Also, congratulations to Hannah Davey on being a second-team pick (should have been first team) for the second time in her career, once on offense and now this year on defense.

Oh, and by the way, Syracuse's McIntyre was a member of the Hartwick team that lost to Princeton 3-0 in the 1993 NCAA quarterfinals as the Tigers reached the Final Four under Bob Bradley.

While TB is bouncing all over the place here, and speaking of great honors for Princeton athletes, he'd like to congratulate Liam Johnson on winning the Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League Defensive Co-Player of the Year, sharing the award with Harvard's Truman Jones.

This was a great quote from Johnson afterwards: 

"Individual awards are a testament to the support system around you and there is no greater support system than my family which eats, sleeps, and breathes the game in every aspect of life."

That's so true on every level. First, almost no football player ever won an individual award without having great teammates and a great supporting cast around him. There are a few exceptions that come to mind (Bo Jackson, Earl Campbell), but football is one of the ultimate team games, and an award like this for Johnson doesn't happen without his teammates.

Second, his family is certainly a football family. As TB has written before, Liam's brothers Tom and James were also first-team All-Ivy League selections who led the Tigers in tackles, as Liam did this year.

The other thing about an award like this is that it comes from being recognized by the league's head coaches. That's a huge sign of respect. 

As a junior, Johnson can make a run at the award again next year. Should he do so, he'd become only the sixth player in league history to win two Bushnell Cups. Can you name the five who have done so? One of them should be really, really easy, while another should be almost as easy. 

TB will give you a few seconds to think about it. 

In the meantime, here's the list of Princeton players who have won the Bushnell Cup since the award debuted in 1970:

Walt Snickenberger, RB, 1974
Jason Garrett, QB, 1988
Judd Garrett, RB, 1989
Keith Elias, RB, 1993
David Patterson, LB, 1995
Jeff Terrell, QB, 2006
Mike Catapano, DL, 2012
Quinn Epperly, QB, 2013
Mike Zeuli, LB, 2014
John Lovett, QB, 2016
Chad Kanoff, QB, 2017
John Lovett, QB, 2018
Jeremiah Tyler, 2021
Liam Johnson, 2022

Ah, TB gave away one of the two-time winners, the one he would consider the really, really easy one for Princeton fans to know. The first two-time winner, by the way, is the one that's almost as easy.

Ed Marinaro (Cornell running back, 1970-71, he's the almost as easy one)
John Pagliaro (Yale running back, 1976-77)
Carl Morris (Harvard wide receiver, 2001-02)
Zack Hodges (Harvard defensive lineman, 2013, 14)
John Lovett (Princeton quarterback, 2016, 18, he's the really, really easy one)

Congratulations to Liam Johnson, and to his family. It's a well-earned award.