A 2-1 Two For One

It was a 2-1 two-for-one.

Unfortunately for Princeton, that is. 

Actually, perhaps "unfortunately" is too harsh a word. It has too much of a negative connotation, and, short of the outcome, there was absolutely nothing negative about either of the 2-1s. 

And while it might have been the greatest Saturday for Princeton Athletics, it's important to step back and appreciate the incredible accomplishments that went into the 2-1 two-for-one.

First of all, what does TigerBlog mean by "2-1 two-for-one?"

There were two championship events for Princeton Saturday night. Both ended 2-1. Princeton, in both, had the one. 

One of the the was the ECAC men's hockey final, where Princeton lost to Dartmouth by that 2-1 score, this time in overtime. The other one was the NCAA wrestling 125-pound final, where Princeton's Marc-Anthony McGowan lost 2-1 to Penn State's No. 1 seeded Luke Lilledahl. 

That's two 2-1s. A 2-1 two-for-one.  

So that part is unfortunate. To come so close to a championship like that? It stings. Very much so. And for a very long time. 

It takes TigerBlog back to something that he heard head field hockey coach Carla Tagliente once say in a similar situation. To paraphrase: when you put that much of yourself into something and fall short, it's supposed to hurt; if it doesn't, you're not invested enough. 

Carla is 100 percent correct. Also, so this doesn't get to be too much of a downer, here's a picture of her new dog:

Say hi to "Rocky." That's a great face. 

Okay, back to today's point.

Yes, it's supposed to sting, and it definitely does. TB has been in too many of those lockerrooms through the years not to have learned that (he's fortunate to be in on the other side too).

Still, sometimes just putting yourself in position like that is worth celebrating.  

TB starts with McGowan. A sophomore from Tampa who attended prep wrestling power Blair Academy, McGowan has twice been the Ivy League champion at his weight — and in fact is the only 125-pound champ the Ivy League has ever had, since it's only been two years of the tournament. 

He reached the NCAA tournament a year ago, winning one match and losing two. This year, he entered as the No. 10 seed, which is impressive but isn't exactly the prime spot for making a long run. 

Make a run he did, however, including a quarterfinal win over No. 2 seed Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech. Lilledahl, also a sophomore, finished off a 25-0 season by edging out McGowan in a defensive matchup. 

That match took place about an hour after the conclusion of the ECAC men's hockey final. Princeton, picked eighth in the league's preseason poll, ended the regular season in fourth, earning a first-round bye and home ice for the league quarterfinal series, a sweep over Union. 

That advanced the Tigers to this weekend's single-elimination league final four, which began when Dartmouth blanked Clarkson 4-0 Friday in a game that started at 4. Princeton then played shortly after seven, against Cornell, the two-time defending league champion.

The Big Red scored early, as in 2:33 in, but Princeton scored twice in the second period to go up before Cornell tied it at 2-2. That set the stage for the game-winner from Joshua Karnish with 7:55 left in the third. 

Princeton then had to kill off a penalty and a pulled goalie. If you watched, you saw Tigers' flying everywhere in the defensive zone, getting bodies in front of pucks and doing everything possible to keep the Big Red from the tie. 

It was an unrelenting effort, and also a draining one. And now Princeton had to turn around to play the final at 5 Saturday — a little more than 19 hours after the semifinal ended.  

What was on the line? A Princeton would win have meant an NCAA tournament appearance, something that Dartmouth (and Cornell for that matter) already had secured. 

Did Princeton have anything left after the Cornell win? 

Princeton fell behind again, this time on a power play goal midway through the first. It would stay that way until less than nine minutes were left in the third, when again Karnish came up huge, this time to tie it. 

To overtime it went. Princeton seemed to have the best of the chances — but it was Dartmouth who snuck one in after 11 minutes. 

Just like that, it was game over, season over. 

Of course that stings. In a major way.

It's the immediacy of it that hurts the most. You go from maximum effort to having it end on a dime. Your first instinct is "no, there has to be something we can do," and then you realize there isn't. 

Well, there is. You can appreciate the magnitude of what you've done, the effort that you put out, the way there was really nothing left of you that wasn't thrown into competing. You can do all those things. 

You just can't do it in the moment. 

Congrats to McGowan and to the men's hockey team.

It was amazing to watch you.