Nutmeg

So this guy's name is Nutmeg — and he knows exactly what he's doing. 

That picture was taken in the Newton Marriott Saturday morning, before TigerBlog went to the Princeton-Harvard field hockey showdown. 

Nutmeg has perfected the art of looking unignorably (not sure if that's a word) cute. As his owner relaxed in a chair, Nutmeg flashed his eyes and smiled at anyone who would come by. 

This led to a series of moments like this: 

That, by the way, is Princeton field hockey goalie Robyn Thompson to the left and forward Grace Schulze. 

Thompson left something in a conference room and went back to get it, and TB was standing there as she walked back to the center of the lobby. He didn't say a word but simply pointed to the dog, and the next thing you know, she melted. 

So did everyone else who walked by. It didn't matter who it was. And Nutmeg, as TB said, knew exactly what he was doing. 

This wasn't limited to Princeton field hockey. Not in the Newton Marriott Saturday morning. There were college athletes everywhere. 

The Head of the Charles brought rowing teams from all over the country, including Southern Cal and Florida State. The Middlebury women's soccer and field hockey teams were there to play at Tufts. The Cornell men's tennis team was there. The same with Yale. 

For Princeton field hockey, it was quite the business trip. The Tigers were headed to Harvard for a showdown for first place in the Ivy League, and quite likely the host role for the upcoming Ivy tournament.

Before the game ever started, TB was able to take another picture that would make anyone smile. Here it is:

That's Lydia Bills on the left. She's a sophomore of the field hockey team, originally from Chester, England. That's her mother Jane on the right. Jane and Julian got to Cambridge after taking a flight across the Atlantic. 

Even though Lydia knew they were coming, it was a great moment. Ah, but even with the pictures of Nutmeg and the mother/daughter reunion, the best photo of the day was still to be taken — and it wouldn't come from TigerBlog's phone.

No, this time it came from photographer Brian Foley. TB will share it shortly.

First, there was the game itself. Harvard was 4-0 in the Ivy League. Princeton was 4-0 in the Ivy League. They are a combined 77-1 against the other six league teams since 2017. 

The winner of this game would need only win one of its remaining two Ivy games to gain no worse than a share of the Ivy title and, as TB referenced, to be the host of the league tournament Nov. 8 and 10. 

This year's tournament is the second for Ivy field hockey. Harvard defeated Princeton 2-1 in the final in 2023, getting the game-winner with 34 seconds to play in regulation. 

This time, Harvard scored first, late in the first quarter, on its first good chance of the game. It seemed like that goal might be enough, especially when Ottilie Sykes' goal in the third quarter was disallowed after it was ruled it had touched a Princeton player first. 

Finally, early in the fourth, Princeton broke through, scoring when Beth Yeager set up Ella Cashman perfectly on a penalty corner. For Yeager, that was career point No. 99.

The game went to OT. The last time these two had played a regular season game on Berylson Field, Harvard won in a shootout to take the league title pre-tournament. Once again, the difference between the win and the loss would be razor thin.

Princeton would be on the right side of the razor. Again it was Cashman, again from Yeager, again on a corner. For Cashman, it was a two-goal day for the first time in her career. For Yeager, who never came off the field for the entire 64 minutes, it was her 100th career point. 

Oh, and Cashman was the one who scored Princeton's goal in the Ivy final last year. 

Next up for Princeton is Maryland Friday and Dartmouth Sunday, both on Bedford Field. A win over Dartmouth would mean that the tournament officially would come to Princeton.

The game Saturday was an intense one, just like every Princeton-Harvard game seems to be. And with that kind of intensity comes great joy, which was captured in the photo that Foley took of Cashman. 

TB told you it was the best one of the day: