Fun, And Serious

Tony Cashman used the epically English word "knackered" to describe his daughter Ella when he and TigerBlog spoke after Princeton's Ivy League field hockey tournament championship win over Harvard Sunday. 

It's used to say something along the lines of "exhausted."

TigerBlog countered with a much more American word. 

"She's TOUGH," TB told her father. 

Cashman wears No. 16 for the Tigers. It could be the amount of bruises she carries with her on Game Day. Maybe she should wear a higher number for that matter. It makes no difference. She keeps moving forward, making big play after big play. 

She was at her "get out of my way" best Sunday as the Tigers defeated Harvard 2-1 in the final, handing the host Crimson their first loss of the season while stretching their own winning streak to 11. A few hours later, Princeton and Harvard both got the good — though hardly surprising — news that both would be home for the NCAA tournament. 

Princeton earned the No. 2 seed, behind only North Carolina. The Tigers will host four games this week on Bedford Field, beginning tomorrow at 2 with the opening round matchup between MAAC champion Fairfield and Patriot League champion Boston University, the winner of which will play Princeton Friday at 12. 

Liberty, the Big East champion, and Syracuse, an at-large entrant out of the ACC, will play Friday at 2:30. The winners of the Friday games then play Sunday at 1 for a trip to the Final Four next week at Duke. 

Princeton would almost surely have been at home even without the win Sunday over previously 17-0 Harvard, who won on Bedford Field 3-1 back on Sept. 26 in what turned out to be the team's final regular season loss. The ILT win did vault the Tigers up in seedings though, with Harvard No. 3 and Virginia at No. 4 as the other hosts. 

This Princeton field hockey team is 15-3 on the year, including an 8-0 record away from home. It has accomplished what is has to date by knowing one of the most important lessons any team can learn — there's a time to have fun, and there's a time to be serious. 

And trust TigerBlog, who has a front row seat for all of it. This team, more than pretty much any he's ever been around, has mastered both. 

That's why you can sit on the bus with them and hear nothing but either laughter, singing or music. It's why their default is smiling, why they love to stop and pose for happy photos as they walk up to the field prior to their games.  

It's also why you can sit on the bench and see the determination with which they play and the way they support each other at all times. You can look at their faces and see teammates who have each other's backs and who push each other to be better at all times. 

That's how this past weekend went. Fun, and serious. 

Beth Yeager was the Ivy tournament Most Outstanding Player, also not surprisingly. How she did it was not easy. Yeager is one of those elite players who puts up huge numbers but whose contributions cannot be measured statistically, and that's how she played all tournament. She just makes everyone better. 

Princeton and Harvard (who, by the way, are a mere 107-1 against the rest of the league since 2016) were even at 1-1 in the third quarter when Yeager attempted a penalty stroke — and had it turned aside by Crimson keeper Linde Burger. And yet, amazingly, just two minutes later, she ripped a shot past Burger off a penalty corner for what would be the game-winner. 

Pru Lindsey, who somehow wasn't an All-Ivy selection, scored goals in each game of the tournament, including the first for the Tigers in the 3-0 win over Yale (also an NCAA team) in the semifinal. Lindsey and another All-Ivy snub, Anna Faulstich, also are members of the "I don't back down ever" club. 

Faulstich scored the second goal against Yale (Yeager had the third), and then there was Faulstich right in the middle of the frantic final seconds of the Harvard game, keeping the Crimson from getting the equalizer. 

But the person who most personified this team was Cashman. If you talk to her any time other than while a game is going on, you'd be hard-pressed to equate her soft-spoken English accent and almost shy smile with the ferocity with which she plays. And, to use TB's word, how tough she is when she does so. 

Like against Harvard. What were a few more bruises when there was a championship to be won? 

The ride home was another in a series of joyous trips with this team. Can the Tigers get through this weekend and head on the road one more time? 

It'll be worth watching the NCAA games at Bedford to find out.