Princeton University
#10 Navy
Players Mentioned
Men's Water Polo Knocks Off 10th-Ranked Navy 7-3
October 04, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
Princeton never trailed in the win, breaking a 1-1 tie late in the second quarter and pulling away with three unanswered goals in the third quarter. Senior Douglas Wigley scored the only goal of the opening quarter and after Navy's Conor Handley evened the score at 1-1 with four minutes left in the second quarter, Wigley scored again with 1:18 left in the half to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Freshman Billy Tifft scored with 31 seconds left in the half to make the score 3-1, before Navy's Johnny Meiners cut the deficit to one with 8.7 seconds left in the half.
Princeton pulled ahead with three goals from Zalewski to begin the third quarter. His first came three minutes into the period to make it 4-2 and his second, one minute later off a pass from sophomore Mike Helou, made it 5-2 Tigers. Navy scored on an ejection to cut the lead to 5-3, but Zalewski's third of the period regained the three-goal margin for Princeton.
While Zalewski and the offense worked to build the lead, Merlone and the Tiger defense came up with many key stops. Merlone blocked 12 shots and seven Tigers recorded steals including a pair from junior Matt Hale, who also completed the scoring in the fourth quarter.
The teams have now split two of at least three meetings this season. The win moved Princeton to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in the CWPA Southern Division. The Tigers return to the pool tomorrow at 12 noon when they host 18th-ranked Bucknell.
| Princeton | 1 2 3 1 - 7 |
| Navy | 0 2 1 0 - 3 |
Princeton Goals: Zalewski 3, Wigley 2, Hale 1, Tifft 1
Princeton Assists: de L'Arbre 1, Helou 1, Vreeland 1, Zalewski 1
Princeton Saves: Merlone 12
Princeton 6-5: 0-4
Navy 6-5: 1-6