Women's water polo captures second-straight ECAC championship

Knocking things down is beginning to become a habit for the women's water polo team. Last weekend it was the goal post, this weekend it was the competition. Princeton (18-3 overall, 8-0 Collegiate Water Polo Association) continued to dominate the East this weekend as it cruised to four victories — claiming its second consecutive Eastern College Athletic Conference championship at DeNunzio Pool.

Before defeating UMass Sunday, 8-5, to capture the title, the Tigers easily conquered Queens, 11-3, Bucknell, 21-5, and Harvard, 6-1.

Not only did the Princeton squad repeat last season's success, but senior captain and goalie Goga Vukmirovic received the tournament's Most Valuable Player award for the second year in a row. Against the weekend's toughest competition — UMass — Vukmirovic recorded 11 saves. The five shots she let in the cage were the most she allowed all weekend.

"The team really came together defensively in this tournament," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "Goga especially had a very good weekend."

The tournament — now in its second year — saw exceptionally strong performances from both the Tigers' offense and defense. The underclassmen especially made a splash this weekend, helping to lead Princeton to victory.

Freshman 2-meter Adele McCarthy, sophomore driver Cassie Nichols and freshman driver Jenny Edwards all received first-team all tournament honors for their outstanding performances.

"Our team plays very strong defense — it helps me a lot," Vukmirovic said. "Everyone on the team is committed to playing strong.

"We always have a strong defense, especially this weekend. If you have one weak link, you will get burned."

Princeton suffered no burns this weekend, however. Instead it was the competition that failed to extinguish the Tigers' fire.

In the first round of the tournament Saturday, Queens and Bucknell fell to the Tigers. Scoring goal after goal, Princeton sunk an astounding twenty-one balls in the Bison cage.

The Tigers then advanced to play Ivy League rival Harvard in the second round Sunday. Despite a good showing Saturday, the Crimson too was unable to prevent Princeton from scoring.

"I was really nervous about playing Harvard," Nichols said. "Harvard looked really good on Saturday when they played Villanova.

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"But Goga helped us out. She played really well this weekend. It's amazing how much we can count on her, and how much she can control the game."

A victorious Tiger squad then moved on to face the Minutemen — who had suffered a loss to Princeton earlier this season. Although the Tigers entered the match with the lower rank, they came out on top.

"The competition was harder than what we faced last weekend," said freshman driver Jenny Edwards. "Especially the UMass game. But we came out and dominated from the first 30 seconds, which took a lot of the pressure off."

The win against UMass was crucial for Princeton, as it will enable the Tigers to have a good seed at the Eastern Championships in three weeks.

"Easterns is definitely our main focus as a team," Nichols said. "That is the most important tournament in my mind, because we have to establish ourselves as the best team on the East in order to be confident at Nationals."

Before Easterns, however, is the CWPA Mid-Atlantic championship at Villanova April 15.

"We're hoping for the number one seed in the championships," Nicolao said. "Teams that we saw this weekend will be there, and there's no telling what will happen. "Harvard and UMass have more than one weapon, so it all comes down to who can play well that day."