
To put Princeton hockey’s run to the NCAAs in proper perspective, you have to travel back in time nearly two years to fathom its intensely steep curve from the abyss. How the Tigers did not succumb to the culture of losing is a testimony to their character, and their coach.
The Boast
Princeton athletics was kicking off its 2016 Memorial Day weekend’s five-day graduation bash with a big-time sports banquet. Vibrant young athletic director Mollie Marcoux (Ithaca, N.Y.) clutched a microphone under the big tent and was listing all the Tigerstriped Ivy League champions from 2015-16. There must have been more than a dozen: swimming and hoops and archery, a multitude of sports featuring both genders standing up and taking bows. Under Marcoux’s firm guidance, Ol’ Nassau had become Title Town of the Ancient Eight. It had become the Stanford of the East.