This article is part of our 2015 Fall Preview
Despite an impressive 23-4 mark, which included a perfect 11-0 record at Denunzio Pool, the men’s water polo team had a frustrating end to its 2014 season. Tied at six apiece with two and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship game against Brown, the Tigers surrendered a late goal that proved the difference maker. A narrow 7-6 victory earned Brown the CWPA title, and with it, an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
With the return of a strong veteran core and the addition of a talented freshman class, head coach Luis Nicolao’s squad looks to push its level of play even higher this fall in hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
Despite a later start to Princeton’s academic year, the Tigers have kept busy over the last few weeks, already amassing a strong 7-3 record through their first 10 games. Princeton kicked off the season with three consecutive wins at the Navy Invitational on Sept. 5 and 6, dominating Cal Lutheran, Iona and Gannon. At the Princeton Invitational the following weekend, Princeton took down Harvard with a strong 16-12 victory but could not keep pace with No. 5 Pacific in a 15-9 defeat.
With a strong start on the East Coast, the Tigers have set their sights on West Coast competition over the last several days. The Tigers got a warm-up for the weekend against Santa Clara, who they took down 12-7on Thursdayevening. With a rest day from competition, the squad took the short drive over to Stanford for the NorCal Tournament. The Tigers fell to No. 8 UC-Irvine 14-6on Saturdayafternoon, but rebounded in the evening with a 14-6 win over Redlands.
Sundaybrought the Tigers up against both UC San Diego and UC Davis, both tied at No. 10 in the nation. In a mixed day for the squad, the Tigers started off strong with a 12-9 victory over UC San Diego. An evening matchup against UC Davis did not fall the Tigers’ way, though, as Princeton fell 10-7 in a tight contest.
Despite mixed results over the weekend, the Tigers return to the East Coast battle, testing against some of the nation’s top teams and with high expectations for the rest of the season. Senior center and co-captain Tommy Nelson stressed the strong impact that the freshmen have had through the first few weeks.
“I’m very pleased with the start of our season so far,” Nelson said, who currently leads the team with 23 goals. “While we lost a top scorer to graduation, the freshmen class was able to quickly adjust to college play and begin contributing early on. Our biggest strength this year is our speed. The freshmen class of field players are all quick, which adds to our already fast upperclassmen. It is going to be hard for teams on the East Coast to keep up with our counterattacking and sprinting abilities.”
Despite being one loss away from matching its entire loss total from last season, the team has had a significant number of early games against top opponents, which Nelson hopes will pay dividends for the team as the season progresses.
“While the focus of our season is to win Easterns and progress to the NCAA Championships, we always challenge ourselves to play the West Coast teams,” Nelson said. “Inviting Pacific to play us at home and flying to Stanford this past weekend to play in the NorCal Invitational allowed us to see how we match up to the West Coast talent. The top ten teams stay together and train through the summer, so they are already well-polished at this early point in the season. While our team has only trained together for a month, our ability to compete and place 10th out of 16 teams is an encouraging sign this early in the season. Playing in California allows us to see where our strengths lie and which areas we need to improve upon as we progress through the season.”
The Tigers will decrease the frequency of competition over the next few weeks, with just three more games before the Ivy League Championships onOct. 17 and 18. Princeton will travel south this weekend to take on Johns Hopkins and George Washington and will have a two-week break from competition before playing Bucknell on the road onOct. 10.
Game time is set for8 p.m. this Saturdaynight in Baltimore against Johns Hopkins. Game time against George Washington will be at 12 p.m. on Sundayafternoon in Washington, D.C.
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