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Vol. LXIV, No. 47
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010
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Vol. LXIV, No. 47
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010
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(Photo by Stephen Goldsmith)
HITTING THE WALL: Princeton University men’s soccer star Josh Walburn controls the ball last Thursday as Princeton battled visiting University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The 10th-ranked Tigers fell 2-1 to UMBC to end their season with a 13-4-1 record. |
Since mid-September, the Princeton University men’s soccer team has shown a knack for winning in a variety of ways.
In putting together a program-record 12-game winning streak and going 7-0 in Ivy League play for the first time ever, 10th-ranked Princeton made its breaks, leading some games wire-to-wire and coming from behind in others.
The three-pronged attack of Ivy League Player of the Year Antoine Hoppenot, Josh Walburn, and Matt Sanner gave the Tigers a quick-strike capability up top.
The defensive pair of Mark Linnville and Ben Burton together with goalie Sean Lynch stymied the opposition, ensuring that the Tigers were in every game.
The Mike and Mike in the Morning sports talk program has become a staple of the ESPN weekday lineup over the years.
Last Friday night, the Princeton University men’s hockey team produced its own Mike and Mike show as it hosted Harvard.
Senior forward Mike Kramer scored Princeton’s lone goal while sophomore goalie Mike Condon made that tally hold up, recording 36 saves in a 1-0 shutout win before 2,072 at Baker Rink.
For Kramer, his role in the show centered on sparking the up-tempo style that Princeton favors.
Coming into the fall, the Princeton University team appeared to have the pieces in place to contend for the national championship.
After going to the NCAA Final Four in 2009, the Tigers returned four All-Americans in junior Katie Reinprecht, junior Kathleen Sharkey, sophomore Julia Reinprecht, and sophomore Michelle Cesan.
In early going this fall, Princeton rose to No. 3 in the national rankings as it started 8-0, knocking off top-ranked Maryland along the way.
But in mid-October, things started to go awry for the Tigers, starting with two-time Ivy League Player of the Year and offensive catalyst Katie Reinprecht suffering a broken fibula.
In the fall of 2009, Zaid Smart didn’t seem to be on the path to doing great things for Princeton High boys’ cross country team. Smart started his junior campaign running in the middle of the PHS pack, noted more for his amiable personality than his running prowess.
But after surprising himself with some good results, Smart realized he could be something special as a runner.
“I ran one race faster last year than I usually did and I started thinking can I keep on going and going,” recalled Smart.
“Last year, I was trying to discover what kind of runner I was and how fast I could really go.”
Eamon Downey knew that his Princeton Day School boys’ cross country faced some roadblocks as it looked to win its second straight Prep B championship meet.
“We had lost to Oratory Prep in our division of the Shore Invitational,” said longtime head coach Downey, who has been guiding the Panther program since the 1970s.
“We knew that Tom Fleming’s Montclair-Kimberley team had improved. We were cautiously optimistic. We knew we could win but nobody was going to hand it to us.”