Celebrating their senior players this weekend, the No. 6 men’s water polo team (18–8 overall, 6–1 Northeast Water Polo Conference) enjoyed two commanding wins at DeNunzio Pool against the Long Island University Sharks (9–16, 1–4) and the Iona University Gaels (10–11, 5–4).
“Senior day is a very special day for every program, and we try to celebrate it in our own way,” Head Coach Dustin Litvak wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “We have traditions during our pregame meetings where speeches are shared both from and about the graduating seniors and these were some of the best yet.”
Tigers beat LIU, 22–9
Indeed it seemed like the Tigers came out of the locker room with incredible motivation, as they started the LIU game with three goals in four possessions. Sophomore utility Finn LeSieur, senior utility and captain Roko Pozaric, and first-year utility Gavin Appeldorn put the Tigers up 3–0.
Following a Princeton exclusion, the Sharks’ second-highest goalscorer this season, Riyad Shehadeh, pulled one back through traffic, but three first-year attackers from the Tigers — Ádám Peocz, Enrique Nuño, and Tas Palcza — combined to restore a commanding 6–1 lead.
Coming off an LIU timeout, Shehadeh nearly lobbed the ball into the net from distance, but sophomore goalkeeper Kristóf Kovács, five-time Defensive Player of the Week this season, sprung into the air to deny him. The quarter ended with sophomore attacker William Swart finding first-year attacker Nathan Baños on a cross to make it 7–1.
The second quarter saw the Tigers double their goal tally through even more new goalscorers. Senior attacker Luke Hammarskjold lobbed the goalie to make it eight different goalscorers from the Tigers’ first eight goals, before Appeldorn, Hammarskjold again, and LeSieur brought the lead up to 11–1. Two senior attacker walk-ons, Daniel Rodriguez, and Will Garlinghouse, combined for Garlinghouse’s first goal of the season to bring the Tigers up 12–2, the game long since out of reach for the Sharks.
Senior attacker and captain Gavin Molloy and Nuño added two more off quick transitions before half-time for a 14–4 lead.
“The games were a great celebration for our senior class and our team as a whole,” Molloy wrote. “Everyone got in the water, and we got to see some guys step up big time.”
And the seniors in particular stepped up in the second half. Senior defender and captain Vladan Mitrovic fired one in from the left side to open up the scoring, before Pozaric lobbed a one-on-one with the keeper. Senior utility and captain Isaac Rottenberg then found Garlinghouse on a cross for an easy finish to make it 17–6.
Garlinghouse finally earned his hat-trick off a one-on-one, before Appeldorn and sophomore utility William Swart capitalized on two quick plays. Garlinghouse added his fourth from mid-cage before junior attacker Hayk Yengibaryan came on and scored his first ever goal in his first ever minute in a Tiger cap, firing up the bench as they celebrated the achievement.
“It was a blessing to score my first career goal on Saturday,” Yengibaryan told the ‘Prince.’
Yengibaryan is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Tigers finish off sweep, winning over Iona
Later that afternoon, the Tigers again came out roaring as they dove into a 5–0 first-quarter start: two from Pozaric and one a-piece from Appeldorn, Palcza and Peocz, while Kovács’ great reflexes kept the Gaels scoreless following a Tiger exclusion. With his second goal, Pozaric has now scored 60 or more goals in four consecutive seasons with the Tigers.
Princeton 1, Iona 0 | 5:44 Q1
— Princeton Water Polo (@Pwaterpolo) November 2, 2024
Roko sneaks one in to put the Tigers on the board! pic.twitter.com/kGteYn4e75
Pozaric then completed his hat-trick in the second quarter before the Gaels finally scored off a 5-meter penalty, meaning the Tigers’ defense did not concede until after 10 whole minutes. Peocz then added two quick shots to complete his own hat-trick, before Palcza, Swart, and Pozaric had short-range finishes as the Tigers dominated on quick transitions, finishing the half 11–3.
Appledorn started the second half off with some good off-ball movement that saw him score freely from mid-cage, while Hammarskjold followed up with a well-placed bounce-shot.
Garlinghouse continued an exciting senior day with his fifth goal from center-cage, before junior utility Logan McCarroll split two Iona blockers in the net as they had a goalkeeper exclusion. Swart then lobbed a cross to junior utility JP Ohl for his first of the day, before Garlinghouse punctuated his brilliant performance with an open-net tap-in.
Princeton 20, Iona 6 | 4:11 Q4
— Princeton Water Polo (@Pwaterpolo) November 2, 2024
Ohl gets his first of the night and that makes Twenty for the Tigers!https://t.co/sCPgj2ILa9 pic.twitter.com/092t8X4WMu
In the closing seconds, Hammarskjold hit an incredible buzzer-beater to end the senior day with a senior goal and close out a 22–6 win for Princeton.
“It was a great day and very rewarding to see so many people get opportunities to contribute in the water,” added Coach Litvak. “These ten seniors have helped transform the culture here, set records, and raised the standard.”
After a tremendous display of dedication and teamwork to celebrate the seniors, the Tigers now look towards their final three conference games against MIT, Harvard, and Brown next weekend. The Harvard game will be particularly decisive, as a win could see the Tigers claim the top seed and a bye for the NWPC championship’s first round.
“Our team continues to get better and better, and we’re excited for the upcoming games next weekend to close out the regular season,” wrote Molloy.
Bryant Figueroa is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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