Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Water Polo Team Plays Host to ECAC Championships
February 25, 2010 | Women's Water Polo
ECAC Championships
Feb. 27-28, 2010 • DeNunzio Pool
• Complete Schedule
• Live Video of Princeton Games
The 17th-ranked Princeton women's water polo hosts the 2010 ECAC Championships this weekend at DeNunzio Pool. The Tigers are the fourth seed in the eight-team field and will open the weekend by facing fifth-seed Iona.
Princeton opened the 2010 season last weekend with a strong showing at the Princeton Invitational, winning three of four games and only falling to fifth-ranked Michigan in a 13-10 game. Princeton picked up wins over Gannon, Colorado State and 18th-ranked Brown.
Phoebe Champion led the Tigers in scoring on the opening weekend with goals in each game for a team-high 11 in the weekend. Lauren Brunner and Brittany Zwirner were the only other players to score goals in each game as Brunner had 10 for the weekend and Zwirner added seven.
Other big contributions over the opening weekend included seven goals, 13 assists and five field blocks from Helen Meigs and six goals and four steals from Cari Levine. Champion, Meigs, Brunner, Levine, Carolina Ardila and Tanya Wilcox were Princeton's field starters in each game.
Grace du Pont and Kristen Ward each played two games in goal for the Tigers. Du Pont earned the win in her first start on Friday night against Gannon with 10 saves, and duplicated the 10-save performance on Saturday against Michigan. Ward played the final two games and made 10 and 11 saves respectively in the wins over Colorado State and Brown.
Princeton's weekend helped the Tigers gain three spots in the CWPA Coaches Poll as the Tigers now sit 17th after opening the year at No. 20. Princeton is the highest ranked team in the field at the ECAC Championships and only Brown, now ranked 20th, has a national ranking. Marist is a team receiving votes. The field for the tournament was seeded based on the final finish order from last years' Southern, Northern and MAAC Championships.
Princeton opens the weekend against Iona on Saturday morning and will play a second game on Saturday afternoon against either Maryland or Bucknell. The tournament's classification games will all be played on Sunday.
Below is a brief look at the eight competing teams:
#1 Maryland
Record: 5-2
Key Win: 11-7 vs. Long Beach State
Leading Scorer: Shannon Simerly (15)
#2 Marist
Record: 3-5
Key Win: 5-4 over Maryland
Leading Scorer: Samantha Swartz (11)
#3 Brown
Record: 5-1
Key Win: 14-11 over Iona
Leading Scorer: Lauren Presant (21)
#4 Princeton
Record: 3-1
Key Win: 13-11 over Brown
Leading Scorer: Phoebe Champion (11)
#5 Iona
Record: 1-6
Key Win: 9-5 over Villanova
Leading Scorer: Cecilia Leonard (5)
#6 Wagner
Record: 3-5
Key Win: 7-3 over George Washington
Leading Scorer: Chelsea Beck, Lauren French, Becca Hannings (10)
#7 Harvard
Record: 6-1
Key Win: 10-8 over Wagner
#8 Bucknell
Record: 3-1
Key Win: 8-7 over Wagner
Leading Scorer: Hallie Kennan (10)