Princeton University Athletics
1999 Women's Water Polo Review
October 12, 1999 | Women's Water Polo
The women's water polo team made great strides with a tremendous amount of youth. There were only three seniors on the squad, and more than half the members were freshmen and sophomore. In their third year with varsity status, the Tigers proved to be one of the dominant teams in the East, capturing three championships, setting a University record for wins in a season with 30 and finishing 14th overall at the national tournament. Not bad for a group of youngsters.
Princeton hosted the indoor nationals to open the 1999 campaign and went 4-1-1 on the weekend. After a very ugly win at Villanova, Princeton headed to the West Coast for the loaded field at the Santa Barbara Invitational, where Princeton would go 1-3 against some of the top teams in the country.
The Tigers returned to the familiar waters of DeNunzio Pool for the Princeton Invitational, where their only loss in the two-day event came in a 6-2 decision against one of the top Eastern teams — Massachusetts. A 14-3 thrashing of Columbia rounded out the weekend and provided momentum as the Tigers headed into CWPA league play. Little did the Tigers know, but the win over the Lions would be the first of a 17-game winning steak that would include a CWPA regular season championship and first-ever Ivy and ECAC titles.
Princeton rounded out a 4-0 league weekend in dramatic fashion with an 11-9 overtime win over Villanova. On three occasions the Tigers led by two, but they let the Wildcats sneak back in the game each time. Princeton fell behind by two early in the extra period before pulling out the 11-9 win. Cassie Nichols and Katherine Kixmiller each scored four goals.
The Tigers capped off the final week of regular season play with four wins to finish first in the CWPA with a perfect 8-0 record.
Although women's water polo is not an Ivy League sponsored sport, 1999 saw the inaugural Ivy championship tournament. The Tigers easily won the title with a 15-0 win over Pennsylvania and an 8-3 victory over Harvard in the title game. Nichols led the Tigers with two goals against the Crimson.
The Tigers then found themselves in their second inaugural championship in as many weeks, as Princeton hosted the first-ever ECAC tournament. Three straight wins set up a showdown with Maryland. Princeton scored three unanswered goals to take its first lead at 9-8 with 34 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, before Maryland evened the score at 9-9 heading into the second mandatory overtime. Nichols won it with a shot from about six meters out in the center of the pool in the second sudden death period. Goga Vukmirovic, the tournament MVP, tallied 14 saves, including a crucial stop against a one-on-one with 43 seconds remaining in the first sudden death period.
Princeton's success against Maryland ended in the CWPA Mid-Atlantic regionals as the Tigers fell to the Terrapins 9-5 in the championship game, snapping the 17-game winning streak. Princeton then went to Cambridge for the Eastern championships and a berth in the collegiate championship. Despite a 9-8 overtime loss to Maryland, the Tigers received a bid to the national tournament with a 4-2 win over Harvard.
As the 14th seed in a 16-team field that boasted only three teams from the East, Princeton managed one win in four games to finish just as it entered, No. 14.
Vukmirovic was selected all-league and honorable mention All-America. For her work in the classroom, She received CWPA All-Academic and Academic All-Ivy honors. Nichols was named all-league and third-team All-America. Both Vukmirovic and Nichols were selected to the Mid-Atlantic first-team, while Veronica Diaz earned second-team honors.
Highlights
The Tigers won the inaugural ECAC and Ivy League tournaments.
Goga Vukmirovic and Cassie Nichols earned all-league, all-region and All-America honors.
The Tigers finished 14th at the 1999 Collegiate Championship.
Results
30-11-1 overall, 8-0 CWPA
Princeton set an University record with 30 wins in 1999.
| 2/5-7 | Cumberland # | W | 13-5 |
| Orca # | W | 12-9 | |
| Peninsula # | L | 7-3 | |
| USA East # | T | 6-6 | |
| Boston Metro # | W | 13-6 | |
| Orca # | W | 8-5 | |
| 2/17 | at Villanova | W | 6-5 |
| 2/ 7-28 | San Jose State $ | L | 5-1 |
| UC-San Diego "B" $ | W | 5-4 | |
| UC-Davis $ | L | 11-2 | |
| Loyola Marymount $ | L | 4-2 | |
| 3/6-7 | Michigan % | W | 7-5 |
| G. Washington % | W | 15-0 | |
| Michigan St. % | W | 9-3 | |
| MassACHUSETTS % | L | 6-2 | |
| Columbia % | W | 14-3 | |
| 3/13-14 | Pennsylvania & | W | 12-1 |
| George Washington & | W | 16-3 | |
| West Chester & | W | 14-1 | |
| Villanova & | W | 11-9* | |
| 3/27-28 | Richmond ? | W | 14-0 |
| James Madison ? | W | 21-0 | |
| Maryland ? | W | 7-5 | |
| Georgetown ? | W | 16-0 | |
| 4/2-3 | at Yale | W | 15-0 |
| Harvard ^ | W | 8-3 | |
| 4/10-11 | MassACHUSETTS + | W | 7-3 |
| Bucknell + | W | 11-6 | |
| Harvard + | W | 10-8 | |
| Maryland + | W | *** 10-9 | |
| 4/17-18 | at Penn State | W | 10-3 |
| Villanova ? | W | 10-5 | |
| Maryland ? | L | 9-5 | |
| 4/23-25 | Iona ? | W | 15-1 |
| Slippery Rock ? | W | 16-6 | |
| Massachusetts ? | L | 5-4 | |
| Maryland ? | L | * 9-8 | |
| at Harvard | W | 4-2 | |
| 5/7-9 | UC-Berkeley ? | L | 12-3 |
| Long Beach State ? | L | 9-8 | |
| Michigan ? | W | 9-5 | |
| Maryland ? | L | 6-3 |
# - Indoor Nationals
$ - Santa Barbara Invitational at Santa Barbara, Calif.
% - Princeton Invitational
& - at College Park, Md.
? - at West Chester, Pa.
^ - Ivy Tournament at New Haven, Conn.
+ - ECAC championships
? - CWPA championships at University Park, Pa.
? - Eastern championships at Cambridge, Mass.
? - Collegiate championships at Davis, Calif.
* - overtime