Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Johns Hopkins (ECAC Championship)
Stover Scores Seven as Men's Water Polo Wins Twice and Advances to ECAC Title Game
September 24, 2005 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 24, 2005
Princeton, N.J. - Senior John Stover scored on a four-meter with 1:46 left in the fourth overtime (second sudden-death) to lift the ninth-ranked Princeton men's water polo team to a 6-5 win over Bucknell in the first semifinal of the ECAC Championship Saturday at DeNunzio Pool. Princeton had defeated No. 19 Johns Hopkins 14-5 earlier in the day and will meet 13th-ranked St. Francis in tomorrow's final.
Stover finished the day with a total of seven goals, five in the first game and two in the second one. In the night cap, Bucknell scored a single goal in each of the four quarters while Princeton scored two goals in both the second and fourth quarters to finish regulation with a 4-4 tie.
In the first overtime Bucknell scored to take a 5-4 lead, but freshman Eric Vreeland answered with his second goal of the game with 50 seconds remaining in the second-full overtime session to even the score at five goals apiece. The teams then played a scoreless first overtime before Stover's goal ended the game in the second sudden-death period.
Stover and Vreeland scored twice in the game and were joined on the scoresheet by senior Mike McKenna and junior Reid Joseph. Sophomore Scott Syverson and senior Gant Morgner split the game in goal. Syverson made three saves in the first half, while Morgner stopped six shots through the rest of the game. In the morning game, Princeton was led by Stover's five-goal performance. Junior Nicholas Seaver scored four times in the win.
Princeton continues with the tournament's championship game tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against St. Francis.