Princeton University
George Washington (Princeton Invitational)
Men's Water Polo Splits Games on Final Day of Princeton Invitational
September 11, 2005 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 11, 2005
Princeton, N.J. - The 10th-ranked Princeton men's water polo team went 1-1 on its final day of the Princeton Invitational Sunday, winning its morning game 8-5 over George Washington, and dropping its afternoon contest 11-9 to No. 7 UC San Diego. Junior Reid Joseph scored three times in the win over George Washington, while junior Nicholas Seaver had four tallies in the UC San Diego game.
In the first game, the Tigers and Colonials played an even first half before Princeton edged ahead in the third quarter. Behind Joseph's three-goal performance, junior Chris Kelsch had two goals, and junior Victor Wakefield, Seaver and freshman Eric Vreeland all added one. Sophomore Scott Syverson was in goal for the game and he made five saves for the win.
In the second game, two top-10 teams matched up and both battled in a back-and-forth game. The Tritons scored first, but no team held a lead of more than one goal until the final two minutes of the game. Jonathan Hopkins goal with three seconds left in the first quarter gave UCSD a 3-2 lead after a quarter. Princeton battled back however and Joseph's goal in the second quarter gave the Tigers a 5-4 edge at the half.
The Tritons raced ahead 8-7 after three quarters on Ty Lackey's goal, but senior John Stover immediately tied it at the start of the fourth quarter. Hopkins gave UCSD a 9-8 lead with six minutes left but Vreeland responded with a goal a minute later to tie the score once again. UCSD scored the eventual game-winner with 4:45 remaining in the quarter when Chris Finegold skipped a shot to the far side of the Princeton goal. The Tigers had chances to draw even but shots by Joseph and senior Dean Riskas hit the posts and eventually Triton Adnan Jerkovic added an insurance goal. Syverson made foru saves in the game.
"Overall it was a really positive weekend," said head coach Luis Nicolao. "I was really happy with how we played against UC San Diego. We had some good chances at the end and just could not capitalize."
Princeton is now 4-1 on the season and begins CWPA play next weekend against Salem International and George Washington at Salem.
Princeton 2 2 2 2 - 8 G Washington 2 2 0 1 - 5
Princeton Goals: Kelsch 2, Wakefield 1, Seaver 1, Joseph 3, Vreeland 1 GW Goals: Eddy 2, Canto 1, Hornberger 1, Price 1
UC San Diego 3 1 4 3 - 11 Princeton 2 3 2 2 - 9
UCSD Goals: Finegold 2, Eichholz 2, Hopkins 3, Borso 1, Lackey 1, Boettner 1, Jerkovic 1 Princeton Goals: Seaver 4, Joseph 1, Colgan 1, Vreeland 1, Stover 2
Box scores from all the games at Princeton Invitational can be found by clicking here.