Princeton opened its fall campaign in Cambridge against Northeastern, last season’s conference champions and one of the toughest opponents on the schedule. Northeastern were clinical, punishing missed tackles and slow support at the breakdown, and their aggressive line speed made it difficult for Princeton to run its set plays cleanly. Northeastern ran out 75-0 winners, and the match gave the squad a clear benchmark for the season ahead.
There was plenty to build on. Four players made their Princeton debuts, three first-years and one sophomore, a promising sign of the program’s growing depth. The set piece was a genuine strength, with the scrum and lineout both solid throughout. The backs produced several promising phases across the match, highlighted by strong runs and line breaks from first-year scrum-half Eli Darko ’30 and sophomore outside centre Emmett Appel ’29, a direct reflection of the work done on the training pitch.
Above all, the match showed the character of this group. Nearly the entire squad played the full 80 minutes, and the effort never dropped, whatever the score. Israel Adeboga ’28 was named Man of the Match, and first-year Dean Giess ’30 earned the Hammer for the biggest hit of the day. The team carried the lessons from Northeastern straight into training ahead of its home match against Niagara. Thank you to everyone who made the trip to support the team.