Princeton University Athletics
New Year's Eve TigerBlog - Goodbye 2025, Hello 2026
December 31, 2025 | Tiger Blog
We can't return; we can only look. Behind from where we came. And go round and round and round in the Circle Game. — Joni Mitchell
Ah, "The Circle Game." It's one of TigerBlog's 10 favorite songs of all time, for sure.
It's a song about time, and how there's no stopping it. And, yes, the seasons have once again gone round and round and the painted ponies have gone up and down, and the end of another year has arrived.
Goodbye 2025. Hello 2026.
As has become a TigerBog tradition, the last day of the year brings with it a Princeton Athletics review of the top Tiger moments of the previous 12 months. In case you have forgotten, here is the list of TB's top stories from each year since he started doing this in 2012 (and remember, he and he alone chose these):
2012 - the NCAA field hockey championship
2013 - the Ivy League football championship
2014 - Julia Ratcliffe's NCAA hammer title
2015 - the women's basketball team goes 31-1
2016 - Ashleigh Johnson wins gold as an undergraduate
2017 - the women's soccer team defeats UNC to reach the NCAA quarterfinals
2018 - the men's hockey team wins the ECAC championship/the football team goes 10-0
2019 - the field hockey team reaches the NCAA final
2020 - the Covid pandemic
2021 - the women's lightweight rowing national championship
2022 - the death of Pete Carril
2023 - the men's basketball team reaches the Sweet 16
2024 - 19 Princeton teams have won their most recent league title
And for 2025? Once again, there is no shortage of possibilities.
Here is a list of teams that won league championships in 2025:
Winter: men's fencing, men's indoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, men's volleyball, men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving
Spring: softball, women's lacrosse, women's golf, men's golf, women's outdoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field, women's lightweight rowing, women's open rowing
Fall: women's soccer, men's soccer, women's volleyball, men's cross country, women's cross country, men's water polo
If TB has his facts right, then that's 20 Princeton teams who have won their most recent league championship. That's more than half of Princeton's teams.
Also, not on that list is Zeina Zein of the women's squash team, who won the individual national championship.
Yup, as TB said, there are a lot of choices for the top story of the year.
Why even bother ranking them? He doesn't want to slight any of these championship teams.
Still, something has to be the No. 1 story of the year. And to TigerBlog, it's actually one of the teams that was not a conference champ, at least not in the regular season.
The Princeton field hockey team lost to Harvard 3-1 on Sept. 26, effectively handing the Ivy League title to the Crimson. After all, Princeton and Harvard combined have lost only one league game between them to another league team since 2016.
With that loss, Princeton slipped to 4-3 overall. Would the year get away from the Tigers?
Instead, Princeton won 14 straight games from that point, making it all the way to double overtime of the NCAA championship game before falling to Northwestern 2-1. Along the way of its 14-game winning streak, Princeton twice defeated Harvard, first in the Ivy tournament final and then again in the NCAA semifinals. Princeton also avenged another of its losses, defeating Syracuse in the NCAA quarterfinals.
It was heartbreaking to come so close, but it was also such an amazing run by a team that started four freshmen and four sophomores in the final and grew together in every way a team can. The run also showcased the amazing talent and athleticism of its one senior starter — four-time first-team All-American Beth Yeager.
To TigerBlog, yes, that was the No. 1 story of the year. To others? Who knows. It's the great part of being part of Princeton Athletics. You can have 20 league champions and still have something else be the top story (though nothing is ever guaranteed one year to the next, so never take it for granted; remember the end of the movie "Patton").
And with that? Have fun on New Year's Eve, if that's your thing — but make good decisions.
Who knows what the next 12 months of Princeton Athletics will bring. Who knows what the No. 1 story of 2026 will be?
Stay tuned.
In the meantime, TigerBlog wishes everyone a very happy and healthy 2026.
