Men's Water Polo: Tigers lose perfect mark but edge Navy

Muhammad Ali once said, “I never thought of losing, but now that it’s happened, the only thing is to do it right ... We all have to take defeats in life.” Despite the fight against Johns Hopkins (9-4) on Friday, the No. 13 men’s water polo team suffered their first loss of the season. With a flawless 8-0 record through two weekends of play, the Tigers had hoped to defend their perfection in the Southern Division. However, in unfavorable conditions, Johns Hopkins narrowly defeated Princeton in a 11-10 win.

Freshman center Matt Weber, the CWPA Southern Rookie of the Week, led the way with three goals, while freshmen attack Drew Hoffenberg, center Thomas Nelson and center Kayj Shannon each contributed two goals. The teams traded the lead, with the Tigers outscoring the Blue Jays in the second quarter to take a 5-3 lead. Johns Hopkins came back in the third quarter to tie the score at 8-8 going into the last quarter but lifted a last goal with final possession.

However, the next day, even with their first loss of the season, the Tigers bounced back to defeat No. 16 Navy (13-5) with a score of 11-9 in overtime. The score remained close between the two teams the entire game with Navy up 6-5 at the end of the third quarter. However, a late goal by Hoffenberg forced the game to overtime.

Nelson and freshman attack Sam Butler rallied in the extra period and Shannon closed out the win, scoring with one minute, 30 seconds left to play. Junior attack Tim Wenzlau also contributed two goals and four steals during the game.

“We were all excited to play Navy,” Wenzlau said. “[It] was an important game to win. Last year we traded wins, so this win does not ensure that we will always beat them. Navy, unlike many east coast teams, is always in swimming shape. Many of the teams we have played so far lost steam in the second half.”

Later that day, Princeton returned to the excitement to play against George Washington. The Tigers started building their momentum from the beginning, defeat ing the Colonials by a final score of 14-8.

Sophomore center Connor Still, sophomore attack AJ Galainena, sophomore attack Kurt Buchbinder and Shannon added two goals apiece, while sophomore Tyler Amina made two saves in each quarter.

The win ended the weekend on a high note and moves the Tigers to 10-1 overall, 2-1 in the Southern Division.

Princeton will fly across the country to compete against the best in the sport in California this week. The team’s busy schedule consists of playing against Loyola Marymount and USC on Thursday, followed by the SoCal Tournament at Long Beach State on Saturday and Sunday.

“Playing Navy was a great warm-up for going to California,” Wenzlau said. “Navy and California teams have the liberty of practicing year round. So a good part of our preseason was spent swimming, to try and make up for the lost practice time in the offseason.”