Princeton University Athletics
2001 Outlook
September 05, 2001 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 5, 2001
It does not bother coach Luis Nicolao that he has to replace six seniors from a 24-10 squad that reached the finals of both the Southern Division and ECAC tournaments. In Nicolao's eyes, graduation losses are no different than dealing with an injury or a bad call from an official.
"Losing seniors is just part of the game," he said. "We can't make excuses. We have a strong group of guys coming back. We've gotten to the point where we can always contend for Southern and Eastern championships, and I'm sure the guys coming back will rise to the occasion and some new guys will come in to contribute.
"Our goal is, first and foremost, to be competitive in every game we play, and play the best we can. We want to try and regain the Southern championship we lost to Navy and hopefully advance further in the Eastern finals. There are probably five teams that can win Easterns, it's just a matter of who plays well that weekend." This is the largest graduation loss of Nicolao's first three teams, but Princeton still appears to have one of the strongest defensive teams in the country. Senior goalie Jon Pharris leads the way, along with veteran two-meter defenders Marshall Roslyn and D.J. Halliday. Also on board are freshman two-meter defender Spencer Rawles and freshman goalie Peter Sabbatini.
"We should be in every game because of our defense," Nicolao said. "Like any sport, you want to be strong defensively because then you're guaranteed to be in the game. Now it will be a matter of executing an offense and taking advantage of every chance you have. We didn't capitalize on all our advantages last year."
Offensively, Princeton must replace Chris Gratian's 46 goals, which were third on the team. They have a solid nucleus to build around, as junior two-meter man Kevin Foster led the squad with 77 goals and junior driver Robert Urquhart was second with 59. The key will be to take some pressure off of Foster, a third-team All-America who most teams will key on. Urquhart will help in that area, as he possesses a lethal outside shot.
"They try to deny Kevin and keep the ball out of his hands," Nicolao said. "We need to get some other guys to become a threat on the perimeter so they can't always look to double team him."
Nicolao is counting on stepped up production from Roslyn (31 goals), Halliday (7), junior drivers Chris Armato (8) and Dave Sertich (6), and sophomore drivers Dan McKenna (30), Dan Holligan (10) and Derrick Wong (5). The coach is also high on freshman two-meter man Michael Murray.
"We just need a state of mind of being positive, thinking positive and staying in the scheme of the game," Nicolao said. "If everyone plays together, we have a lethal combination.
"There will be somewhat of a drop-off because of all the changes we make. But I'm a firm believer you can't worry about who you've lost. You have to keep going forward and I think we'll do that."