Princeton University
St. Francis (Eastern Championships)
Men's Water Polo Wins Easterns With Overtime Goal; Advances to NCAA Championships
November 14, 2004 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 14, 2004
Lewisburg, Pa. - Nick Seaver took a pass into the two-meter set and swept it past St. Francis goaltender Alexandar Stankovic for the game winning goal in the second sudden death overtime period, as the Princeton men's water polo team edged the Terriers 3-2 in a defensive battle in Sunday's Eastern Championship's title game at Bucknell.
Princeton goalkeeper Peter Sabbatini, the tournament's MVP, and Stankovic both put on a show for the raucous crowd as neither team could score for the majority of the game. Each team had several man-up chances, but the goalkeepers were the stars of the game.
Princeton drew first blood at 1:01 of the first quarter on a goal by Reid Joseph. The Tigers extended the lead to 2-0 in the second quarter on a goal by John Stover that was assisted by Mike Murray. St. Francis answered on its next posession to close the gap to one on an outstanding shot from Andrija Vrdoljak on the perimeter. The third quarter saw the Terriers tie the game as two-meter set Botond Szalma shook off two Princeton defenders and fired the ball into the back of the net. For the next 22 minutes and 21 seconds of game play, the goaltenders from both teams shut down all offensive chances. Seaver's game winner came at 1:43 of the second sudden death session, after two scoreless quarters and two scoreless regular overtime sessions and was assisted by Chris Kelsch. The goal sent the entire Princeton team into the pool in celebration including head coach Luis Nicolao.
With the victory, Princeton advances to its second NCAA Championship in program history and its first visit since 1992. The final four will be played on Dec. 4-5 at Stanford.
Nicolao was named the Eastern's Coach of the Year following the tournament. Stover was named first-team All-Eastern and Joseph and Jamal Motlagh were named to the second team.
1 2 3 4 OT1 OT2 SDOT1 SDOT2 F
Princeton 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
St. Francis 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
St. Francis goals: Szalma; Vrdoljak, A.
Princeton goals: Joseph; Seaver; Stover.