Princeton University Athletics
Princeton-Harvard Is More Than Just Football This Weekend
October 24, 2002 | General
Oct. 24, 2002
Coming to see Princeton play Harvard this weekend? You have more choices than you may realize.
While Princeton and Harvard celebrate their 125th anniversary in football (the first meeting was in 1877, though the teams have not played every year since), there are no fewer than five meetings between the schools set for the Princeton campus Saturday. All will impact the Ivy League race in their sport, and all except the football game are free.
Consider:
* the football game (1:00, WBUD, www.goprinceatontigers.com, RCN, CN8) matches two of the there Ivy League unbeatens (Princeton, Harvard and Penn are all 2-0). Princeton has not defeated Harvard in football since 1995, the year of the Tigers' last Ivy title. Since then, Harvard has defeated Princeton six times, of which five have fallen into the excruciating category.
* at the same time that the football game kicks off, the league's two unbeaten field hockey teams meet at the Class of 1952 Stadium. Princeton has won eight straight Ivy League championships, and a win over the Crimson would be a big step in the direction of another one. Waiting beyond Harvard for Princeton is Cornell (3-1 in the league) and Penn. Should there be a two-way tie for the league title down the road, the winner of the head-to-head matchup would get the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which makes the Princeton-Harvard game even more important.
* the men's soccer team has had some tough luck through its season. Harvard enters the game 2-0-1 in the league, behind only 3-0-0 Penn. Princeton, at 0-2-1, can still have a winning Ivy record and make a run at the postseason. Princeton and Harvard kick off at 4 at Lourie-Love Field.
* the women's volleyball race is different this season, with a double round-robin format having replaced the postseason tournament to match the method of basketball in choosing its league champion and automatic bid. Harvard enters this weekend at 6-0 in the league, but Princeton, Penn and Cornell are all bunched closely behind as the race nears the midway point. Princeton and Harvard square off at 4 at Dillon Gym.
* and then there is the women's soccer team. Princeton is currently 12-0-0, the only undefeated, untied team in Division I. Princeton is 5-0-0 in the league, and every other team has at least one loss and one tie. Princeton would clinch the league championship with a win over Harvard Saturday night (7:30, Lourie-Love Field) or a win at Cornell next weekend. Princeton would clinch at least a tie with a tie against Harvard. The Crimson, though, had defeated Princeton eight straight years before Princeton's 2-1 win in Cambridge last year. No Julie Shackford-coached Princeton team has so much as scored a goal in a home game against Harvard (2-2-1 Ivy).
The men's hockey team doesn't play Harvard, but it does have a pair of exhibition games this weekend, including one against the U.S. Under-18 national team Saturday at 6 at Baker Rink.
The sprint football plays its final home game of the season Friday night against Navy.