Men's Water Polo: Freshmen will lead No. 17 Tigers

After an impressive opening weekend of competition, including five straight wins against No. 13 Santa Clara, Fordham, Harvard, Brown and MIT, freshman center Kayj Shannon of the men’s water polo team earned honors in his first week by being named the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s Southern Division Player and Rookie of the Week. Shannon led the Tiger attack with a team-best 12 goals in five games, adding three steals and two drawn ejections. Describing himself as “athletic, confident and strong,” and dubbed by the seniors as the “most likely to palm a medicine ball,” the freshman is motivated by his fellow teammates and will be a key part of the Tigers’ season.

“It is very exciting to play at Princeton,” Shannon said. “It differs slightly from playing in high school, where it was limited to three or four strong guys, but at Princeton, there are 15 or so strong players all supporting each other.”

Other newcomers to Princeton’s team showed their strength against their first opponents as well. Freshman center Tommy Nelson added five goals while freshman attacker Sam Butler, one of three freshmen not from the West Coast, added seven steals, including four against the ranked Broncos. Freshman attacker Drew Hoffenberg, nicknamed “Coupon,” added a team-high 10 assists.

“Drew is without question one of the most skilled players on the team,” sophomore attacker Adam Lebovitz said. “He has amazing vision and sees the game incredibly well. [The freshmen] are all amazing players. Each of them brings a different set and background to the team. They have been an incredible addition both in and out of the pool.”

They will be surrounded by a strong group of returning Tigers, ranging from attackers to centers to goalies. Senior center and co-captain Mike Helou started all 27 games last year and scored 34 goals to rank third on the team in scoring. He added 12 assists, notched 20 steals and drew a team-high 54 ejections. The junior class of attacker Tim Wenzlau, center Jack Ruth, central defender Billy Tifft and attacker Tommy Donahue has also continued to demonstrate its strength. Wenzlau tallied six goals this past weekend, while Donahue, a first-team All-South honoree in 2010, found the net four times.

Ruth is also a member of the Daily Princetonian business staff.

Sophomore goalie Tyler Amina, following the footsteps of Mike Merlone ’11, stopped 35 of the 50 shots he faced in his first significant collegiate action.

“Tyler has gone well above expectations,” Ruth said. “He has played into the team defense and has allowed us to counter attack. He is paced by backup sophomore goalie Nick Gilligan, who was thrown into the goal and has stepped into his role fantastically.”

Setting their goals high, the Tigers are heading into a weekend featuring teams from the CWPA Northern Division. Princeton will play Iona on Saturday morning before facing Connecticut College and Fordham.

“The team is really excited to see how far we can go this year,” Lebovitz said. “While our ultimate goal is always to win Easterns and make the NCAA Final Four, we have a full weekend of games that will be a great opportunity to go out and play, giving everyone on the team a chance to show what they can contribute.”