Courtesy: Princeton Athletic Communications The top-ranked Princeton lightweights defeated Navy for the Murtaugh Cup.

The top-ranked Princeton men's lightweight rowing team avenged its only regular season loss last season and earned the Murtaugh Cup by defeating Navy Saturday morning at Lake Carnegie. The Tigers defeated the third-ranked Midshipmen in their 2009 home finale.

Princeton lost to Navy in the 2008 season opener, but won every other regular season regatta en route to the No. 1 national ranking. The Tigers opened the 2009 polls at the No. 1 position, and they solidified that position with a hard-fought win over both Navy and Ivy League rival Columbia. Princeton won the first varsity race in 5:58.0, while Navy placed second in 6:01.3. Columbia finished third in 6:22.9.

Navy won the second varsity race in 6:12.4, while Princeton took second in 6:16.4 and Columbia finished third in 6:26.4. The Navy won the 3V competition in 6:26.3, while the Princeton 3V, which used a haevyweight rower in place of an injured competitor, finished in 6:48.4.

Princeton also picked up an impressive win in the freshman eight. The Tiger novice, coming off a season-opening win over Georgetown last weekend, finished in 6:13.0, while Navy took second in 6:21.8 and Columbia finished third in 6:22.2.

The Murtaugh Cup is named after former Princeton lightweight coach Joe Murtaugh, who guided Princeton to numerous postseason titles. Among those were the 1994 and 1996 national titles, which were led by current Tiger head coach Greg Hughes. 

The top-ranked Tigers will try to retain the Platt Cup next weekend in Ithaca, N.Y., when they take on the two-time defending national champion Cornell Big Red.