No. 7 Men’s water polo (16–8 overall, 4–1 Northeast Water Polo Conference) continued their annual fall break trip in California with a 12–11 loss to No. 4 University of the Pacific (13–0, 2–0 West Coast Conference) and a historic win over No. 9 University of California – Berkeley (11–8, 1–2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation). The win over Cal marked the Tigers’ first win in program history over the three-time defending champions.
“The great thing about this California trip, despite the losses, is that playing against the best teams gives us a really good idea of what we need to work on if we want to reach our end goal of a national championship,” sophomore utility Finn LeSieur told The Daily Princetonian. “We learned a lot about ourselves this past week, and we will continue to work on our weaknesses no matter who we are playing.”
Princeton falls in thrilling showdown against Pacific
In a rematch of the two sides, Princeton hoped to avenge a 12–11 loss at Denunzio Pool in September, but fell by the same scoreline in front of a hostile crowd in Stockton, California.
The contest began with Princeton striking first just 15 seconds into the match as LeSieur set up senior defender Vladan Mitrovic for an early goal. Pacific responded quickly with Pacific’s Mihailo Vukazic finding the back of the net just 40 seconds later, leveling the score at 1–1. Both teams exchanged momentum, with Vukazic, a two-time WCC Player of the Week, showcasing his scoring prowess for Pacific throughout the match. Vukazic scored five goals on five shots on Friday evening.
With just under two minutes left in the first quarter, a shot from Ori Buzaglo slipped under the arms of sophomore goalkeeper Kristóf Kovács, giving Pacific a 3–2 advantage as the quarter concluded.
The second quarter saw Princeton come out strong. Quick goals from LeSieur and senior utility Roko Pozaric put the Tigers up 4–3, but the hosts continued to battle. Pacific’s Reuel D’Souza tied it again with a skip shot before junior utility Logan McCarroll executed a power play to give the visitors the lead back. After both sides exchanged goals once more, Princeton held a slim 6–5 lead heading into the break.
Princeton 6, Pacific 4 | 0:52 Q2
— Princeton Water Polo (@Pwaterpolo) October 19, 2024
Roko Pozaric goals never get old😉https://t.co/Z7Udgc5EBX pic.twitter.com/RvC5zFGSO8
The second half started with a flurry of action. Pacific quickly equalized with another goal from Vukazic, tying the score at 6–6. Despite Princeton’s strong offensive efforts, they struggled to convert, with key saves from Pacific’s goalkeeper Bae Fountain preventing them from pulling ahead.
As the third quarter came to a close, an offensive foul against the Tigers proved costly, as Pacific took a 10–7 lead into the final quarter after a power-play goal. The Tigers took ground back from Pacific in the fourth period, however, and cut the lead to 11–10 with just over two minutes remaining.
A long-range strike from Jeremie Cote restored Pacific’s two-goal lead at 12–10, but Palcza responded, closing it to 12–11 with 1:33 left on the clock. Despite several attempts, Princeton was unable to find the equalizer they needed as Pacific successfully managed the clock, closing the game out at 12–11.
“Going into a school like Pacific where water polo draws a huge crowd, in the latter half of a very intensive week and pushing them to their limit was a very impressive feat,” LeSieur told the ‘Prince.’ “Like all of the games on this California trip, it just proves that we are capable of so much when we play the right way, and we haven’t even reached our full potential yet.”
Berkeley becomes Tiger territory in historic victory
In their second game of the weekend, the Tigers took down the three-time defending national champion Berkeley 11–9 for the first time in Princeton’s history. The Golden Bears were fresh off of a win over No. 1 Stanford the day before.
The Tigers’ win was even more impressive considering that Ivy League rules prohibit them from practicing over the summer — a restriction that does not apply to Cal.
“Once we finished our post-game meeting after the Pacific loss, our focus was Cal,” LeSieur told the ’Prince.’ “If anything, the loss to Pacific just fueled us even more to end the trip on a good note, and finish with a good win against a very good team.”
The match began with Kovács denying Cal. Kovács tied his season high with 16 saves on Sunday and was recently nominated for a Cutino Award, which recognizes the best collegiate water polo player in the nation.
After a series of back-and-forth plays, Pozaric found the net to open the scoring for the Tigers at 1–0. Cal quickly responded with a goal from Maddox Arlett, leveling the score at 1–1. The Tigers took control shortly thereafter, capitalizing on a six-on-five advantage as Palcza fired a powerful shot into the back of the net, putting the Tigers up 2–1. At the end of the quarter, Princeton led 4–2.
The second quarter continued the back-and-forth tempo, with both teams showcasing tight defense. Princeton’s LeSieur, assisted by junior utility JP Ohl, scored to cushion the lead at 5–2. After Cal scored back, Kovács made an emphatic penalty save to preserve the two-point lead against the defending champions. The Tigers went the other way and drew a power play, with LeSieur converting off a pass from Ohl. Ohl has 145 career assists for the Tigers, good for fifth in program history.
Princeton 5, Cal 2 | 5:32 Q2
— Princeton Water Polo (@Pwaterpolo) October 20, 2024
The lob and the finish!
💻https://t.co/c7iITsAvju pic.twitter.com/VvS7sTkIn9
After their loss against Pacific, Mitrovic told the ‘Prince’ about the Tigers’ intentions of strengthening their performance in what he called “the famous third quarter.”
“We have managed to control the first and second quarter of whoever we play, but in the third quarter, we have had problems with Pacific, USC, UCLA, where in the third quarter our cohesion energy will just plummet,” Mitrovic said. “That’s where we have to embrace the tiredness, pain, whatever it is, because it’s been a long fall trip against very tough opponents.”
Clearly, the Tigers found the recipe for a solid third this time around. Though Cal came out strong in the third quarter, a skip shot from Palcza found its way past California’s keeper, increasing their lead to 7–5. Another goal from Palcza soon followed for his fourth hat-trick of the season, extending the Tigers’ lead to 8–5. Pozaric followed with two more goals, bringing his total to four in the game and increasing the Tigers’ lead to 10–6 to close out the quarter.
However, the defending champs weren’t finished, scoring three consecutive goals to narrow the deficit to 11–9 with just 1:30 remaining. Despite the pressure, Princeton’s defense held strong, preventing California from closing the gap as time ran out.
The Tigers ended the contest victorious, holding their 11–9 lead and defeating the California Golden Bears for the first time in program history.
Princeton will face five teams in the next three weeks before hosting the NWPC Tournament at the DeNunzio Pool in late November.
“The positive thing about facing teams we have already seen before the tournament is it exposes different areas for improvement, and this team definitely has a lot of potential to improve,” Mitrovic added.
“We have proved what this team can do, which is compete against anyone, beat anyone. We have managed to identify the main things that we have to work on, and that will be the main focus for the next two weeks.”
Francie McKenzie is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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