Men's Water Polo: Upset of No. 13 49ers highlights 1-5 weekend

Last week, the men’s water polo team trekked across the country to challenge some of the best teams in college water polo under the California sun. Landing first in Los Angeles, No. 14 Princeton (11-6 overall, 2-1 CWPA Southern Division) took on No. 11 Loyola Marymount University (8-5) and No. 1 University of Southern California (8-0). The Tigers then headed south to Long Beach for the annual SoCal Tournament. Only playing against higher-ranked teams, the Tigers went 1-5 for the weekend, beating Long Beach State 8-4 for their lone win of the weekend.

On Thursday afternoon, the Tigers started their California trip with a 9-7 loss to LMU. Last year, Princeton fell 9-1 to the Lions. This year, LMU jumped to a four-goal lead in the first quarter; however, the Tigers stayed strong in the second quarter, holding the Lions scoreless while tallying three goals to get back in the running. At the end of the third quarter, Princeton and LMU were tied 7-7. However, the Lions defended their higher rank and closed the game, finding the back of the cage twice while keeping the Tigers scoreless.

Later that evening, Princeton returned to the pool to face the best team in the country, USC. Currently ranked No. 1, USC maintained its perfect season, defeating the Tigers 13-4. The Trojans, who have made 24 NCAA appearances and won five NCAA championships, have played Princeton three times previously, winning decisively each time.

After a day of rest on Friday, the Tigers spent Saturday and Sunday playing in the SoCal Tournament against No. 4 Stanford University (7-2), No. 13 Long Beach State University (11-3), No. 9 University of California, Davis (16-5) and LMU again.

In the first game of the tournament, Princeton fell 14-3 to Stanford. The Cardinal built an early lead with a five-goal first quarter. Continuing to dominate the game with strong defense, Stanford held the Tigers scoreless in two quarters. The Cardinal then continued on in the tournament to capture its first SoCal title since 2002.

Later that day, the Tigers claimed a decisive 8-4 win against the tournament host, Long Beach State. The Tigers had faced the 49ers on five previous occasions but had never won. After ending the first quarter tied 1-1, Princeton took the lead in the second quarter and never looked back. Outscoring Long Beach State for the rest of the game, the Tigers marched to their only win of the western road trip.

Sunday morning, Princeton headed back to the pool to face UC Davis. Ending the first quarter tied, the Aggies rallied for four goals in the second quarter while holding the Tigers scoreless. Going goal for goal in the subsequent quarters, Princeton could not overcome the four-goal deficit and lost 7-11.

For the last game of their California tour, the Tigers ended the way they started. Facing LMU for the second time, Princeton lost with the same score of 9-7. The Lions again jumped to an early lead, but this time the Tigers could not even the score. Playing catchup for the rest of the game, Princeton lost despite holding LMU scoreless in the final quarter while finding the back of the cage twice.

Freshman center Thomas Nelson and senior center Mike Helou tied for the Tigers’ team scoring lead on the six-game West Coast swing, netting six goals apiece. Freshman attacker Drew Hoffenberg also contributed five goals and four assists.

The men’s water polo team is now 11-6 overall. On Saturday, they play conference opponent Bucknell University for the first time this season at 2 p.m. at DeNunzio Pool, returning home for the first time since the season-opening Princeton Invitational on the second weekend of September.