Women's Water Polo: Flawless Tigers maintain perfect mark in blowouts

With the wins, the Tigers (8-0) pushed their season-opening win streak to eight games as they enter the beginning of the conference schedule. As the only ranked team in the CWPA Southern Division, Princeton has high expectations entering league play, which it opens at home next weekend.

The team’s hodgepodge of steady senior leadership and freshmen phenoms was especially prevalent on Saturday. Against Marist, Princeton jumped out to an early 5-2 halftime lead and held the advantage through the end of the match without incident. Four freshmen scored a combined seven goals, with utility Camille Hooks leading the team with three and classmate Jessie Holecheck adding a pair.

In the second game against Wagner, the Tigers again jumped in front 5-2, but this time due to help from the upperclassmen. Senior defender Audrey Zak paved the way with a team-high three goals, matching the total of sophomore utility Molly McBee, and junior attack Brittany Zwirner added another two.

Opening play on Sunday morning, the Tigers found themselves down 3-2 at the end of the first quarter against Gannon, a surprising turnaround given Saturday’s dominance. Six second-period goals solved that problem, as Princeton took an 8-5 lead into halftime and never looked back. Four players found the cage multiple times, led by freshman attack Kelly Gross’ hat trick.

The momentum carried through the weekend finale against Siena, as the Tigers outscored the Saints 9-1 in the first half. Freshman utility Ashley Hatcher set a weekend high with four goals, with Gross scoring twice and assisting three others and a trio of teammates also netting two goals apiece. Senior goalie Katlin Poladian stopped 10 shots while allowing only five scores.

Princeton dominated each of the four weekend contests, none of which were decided by fewer than four goals. The defense, led by senior goalies Kristen Ward on Saturday and Poladian on Sunday, was especially stifling, as none of the Tigers’ opponents have yet to reach double-digit goals in a game. That defense forced a combined 55 steals over the weekend, including a weekend-high 16 against Gannon.

Due to the uneven games, everyone has seen playing time, and each player has scored at least two goals this season. Before the first conference game, all of the players have experience in the pool. Aside from a 6-5 squeaker over Colorado State on the season’s opening weekend, the Tigers have not trailed after halftime yet this season.

After playing four teams this past weekend but evading the Bison, the Tigers will finally face Bucknell and play their first conference game in a prime-time showdown at DeNunzio Pool on Friday. The Bison enter the game with just a 3-5 record, including an 8-7 loss to Brown this weekend in the first CWPA Southern intra-division game. Princeton will play four more non-conference games next weekend.