Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Water Polo Set to Face Tough Competition in California
October 08, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
Princeton entered last weekend at .500 overall and 2-1 in the CWPA's Southern Division after a loss at Bucknell the previous weekend. The Tigers came together over the weekend, clamping down defensively and converting in the offensive end of the pool for a pair of resounding wins over Navy and Bucknell.
The weekend started with a 7-3 win over Navy on Saturday as Princeton took an early lead and broke the game open in the third quarter with three straight goals. The following day Princeton dominated Bucknell 12-5 avenging a 10-9 defeat to the Bison a week earlier. Princeton again jumped to an early lead and pulled away through out the game for the big win.
Senior Mark Zalewski led the offense with three goals and an assist in each win and now leads the team with 30 goals this season. He has 16 goals in his last four games and was named the CWPA's Southern Player of the Week following his team-leading performance. In addition to Zalewski, junior Matt Hale was the only other Tiger to score in both games, while eight others added goals over the weekend. Defensively, junior Mike Merlone made 12 saves in the Navy win, while seniors Scottie Hvidt and Henry Fyfe combined with Merlone to made 14 saves in the Bucknell win.
By virtue of Princeton's two wins, the Tigers are now tied atop the Southern standings with Bucknell at 4-1 in league play. Navy is 1-2, George Washington is 0-2 and Johns Hopkins is 0-3. The Tigers resume league play the weekend of Oct. 17-18 at George Washington, Johns Hopkins and Navy.
Before that though, Princeton travels to California to face third-ranked USC in non-league play on Friday night. The Tigers are then set to compete at the UCI Invitational and will kick off the tournament Saturday morning against top-ranked Stanford. Princeton will face either seventh-ranked Pepperdine or ninth-ranked UC Irvine in the second game of the tournament. The tournament's complete schedule, as well as additional information, can be found by clicking here.