Princeton University Athletics
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Thursday TigerBlog - In First
January 15, 2026 | Tiger Blog
There is a daily trivia question at the front desk in Jadwin Gym, courtesy of a young woman named Naomi.
Here is yesterday's:
"Lt. Col. Charles Mawhood took two dogs of what breed with him into the Battle of Princeton?"
Colonel Mawhood, by the way, was the commander of the British forces in Princeton. Though the Americans won the battle, Mawhood did prevent a bigger loss for the British with his escape, presumably down Route 206 towards the Mercer Mall. For his bravery, Mawhood earned a commendation from the King himself.
TigerBlog had no idea what breed the dogs could have been, so he guessed "chihuahua," which of course couldn't possibly have been correct. Then he thought "English Army, English dogs" and guessed "English Mastiffs," who are huge by the way.
When that wasn't true, he went with "something in between." It turns out the answer was "spinger spaniels."
What role did his two dogs play? Did they survive the battle too?
This is all that TigerBlog could find:
"That day Mawhood rode a brown pony, and had a pair of springer spaniels playing before him."
TigerBlog has no idea what happened to them, but here's a shot of one of their descendants:
Big Princeton fans, those springer spaniels.
*
Another trivia question could be "which is the only school that is in first place in men's and women's hockey in a Division I conference heading into this weekend?"
You know the answer. Why else would TigerBlog bring it up?
In any situation where TB asks such a question, the answer is either Princeton (95 percent chance) or Sacred Heart (five percent chance).
In this case, the answer is "Princeton."
The men's hockey team is tied for first with Quinnipiac with 22 points, one ahead of Dartmouth and three ahead of Cornell. This weekend's schedule has Princeton at Cornell tomorrow night and then Colgate Saturday night.
The Princeton women, as TB wrote the other day, are in first by four points over second-place Yale (28-24). These Tigers are home this weekend, tomorrow at 6 against Harvard and Saturday at 3 against Harvard.
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The women's hockey game Saturday will feature the "Denna Day" celebration, recognizing former Tiger Denna Laing, who will drop the ceremonial first puck.
If you're not familiar with her story, Laing graduated in 2014 and then played professionally for a little more than a year, until she suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury at an outdoor game in Gillette Stadium. Since then, she has worked tirelessly both on her own recovery and on advocating for others who are in the same situation.
TigerBlog included her in his book on the first 50 years of women's athletics at Princeton. How could he not? If you talk to her for two minutes you can't help but be inspired by her.
Here is something TB wrote about her for the book:
Beyond the physical, she has been nothing short of a warrior in this battle, and it's impossible for anyone to be around her for more than a few moments not to realize that. Since her injury she has inspired others with spinal cord injuries, has spoken publicly about her own ordeal, and has helped to raise money for support and research. She's completed the Boston Marathon, pushed in a special wheelchair for the 26.2 miles by former NHL star Bobby Carpenter in just under 4:30. She's worked with the Christopher Reeve Foundation and with other athletes who suffered similar injuries, like former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand and former Boston University hockey player Travis Roy, who passed away in 2020.
To learn more about Denna, you can go to her website HERE.
*
Another woman who is a massive bundle of energy and inspiration is Crista Samaras, a coach, broadcaster and motivational speaker, among other things.
Samaras graduated from Princeton in 1999 as the all-time leading scorer in program history, and she'll stand forever as the player who scored the most points for the women's lacrosse team before the advent of the shot clock, which sped the game up considerably.
This past weekend Samaras was part of the Class of 2026 that was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, becoming the third member of the Princeton women's program to be so honored. The other two are Tewaaraton Award winner Rachael Becker and legendary coach Chris Sailer.
Congratulations to Crista.
*
In all this weekend, there will be 13 Princeton teams who will be competing this weekend. The complete schedule is HERE.
Here is yesterday's:
"Lt. Col. Charles Mawhood took two dogs of what breed with him into the Battle of Princeton?"
Colonel Mawhood, by the way, was the commander of the British forces in Princeton. Though the Americans won the battle, Mawhood did prevent a bigger loss for the British with his escape, presumably down Route 206 towards the Mercer Mall. For his bravery, Mawhood earned a commendation from the King himself.
TigerBlog had no idea what breed the dogs could have been, so he guessed "chihuahua," which of course couldn't possibly have been correct. Then he thought "English Army, English dogs" and guessed "English Mastiffs," who are huge by the way.
When that wasn't true, he went with "something in between." It turns out the answer was "spinger spaniels."
What role did his two dogs play? Did they survive the battle too?
This is all that TigerBlog could find:
"That day Mawhood rode a brown pony, and had a pair of springer spaniels playing before him."
TigerBlog has no idea what happened to them, but here's a shot of one of their descendants:
Big Princeton fans, those springer spaniels.
*
Another trivia question could be "which is the only school that is in first place in men's and women's hockey in a Division I conference heading into this weekend?"
You know the answer. Why else would TigerBlog bring it up?
In any situation where TB asks such a question, the answer is either Princeton (95 percent chance) or Sacred Heart (five percent chance).
In this case, the answer is "Princeton."
The men's hockey team is tied for first with Quinnipiac with 22 points, one ahead of Dartmouth and three ahead of Cornell. This weekend's schedule has Princeton at Cornell tomorrow night and then Colgate Saturday night.
The Princeton women, as TB wrote the other day, are in first by four points over second-place Yale (28-24). These Tigers are home this weekend, tomorrow at 6 against Harvard and Saturday at 3 against Harvard.
*
The women's hockey game Saturday will feature the "Denna Day" celebration, recognizing former Tiger Denna Laing, who will drop the ceremonial first puck.
If you're not familiar with her story, Laing graduated in 2014 and then played professionally for a little more than a year, until she suffered a catastrophic spinal cord injury at an outdoor game in Gillette Stadium. Since then, she has worked tirelessly both on her own recovery and on advocating for others who are in the same situation.
TigerBlog included her in his book on the first 50 years of women's athletics at Princeton. How could he not? If you talk to her for two minutes you can't help but be inspired by her.
Here is something TB wrote about her for the book:
Beyond the physical, she has been nothing short of a warrior in this battle, and it's impossible for anyone to be around her for more than a few moments not to realize that. Since her injury she has inspired others with spinal cord injuries, has spoken publicly about her own ordeal, and has helped to raise money for support and research. She's completed the Boston Marathon, pushed in a special wheelchair for the 26.2 miles by former NHL star Bobby Carpenter in just under 4:30. She's worked with the Christopher Reeve Foundation and with other athletes who suffered similar injuries, like former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand and former Boston University hockey player Travis Roy, who passed away in 2020.
To learn more about Denna, you can go to her website HERE.
*
Another woman who is a massive bundle of energy and inspiration is Crista Samaras, a coach, broadcaster and motivational speaker, among other things.
Samaras graduated from Princeton in 1999 as the all-time leading scorer in program history, and she'll stand forever as the player who scored the most points for the women's lacrosse team before the advent of the shot clock, which sped the game up considerably.
This past weekend Samaras was part of the Class of 2026 that was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, becoming the third member of the Princeton women's program to be so honored. The other two are Tewaaraton Award winner Rachael Becker and legendary coach Chris Sailer.
Congratulations to Crista.
*
In all this weekend, there will be 13 Princeton teams who will be competing this weekend. The complete schedule is HERE.
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