Princeton University
#11 Hartwick
Players Mentioned
Women's Water Polo Knocks Off #11 Hartwick for Third at Easterns
May 02, 2010 | Women's Water Polo
The victory avenges a 10-8 loss to the Hawks earlier in the season and marks the Tigers' highest finish at the Eastern Championship since placing second in 2007 with an 8-6 loss versus Hartwick.
Princeton trailed for under three minutes in the first period as Hartwick's Jessica McKee scored off a cross-pass at the 6:35 mark. The Tigers closed out the period with back-to-back goals by Cari Levine at 3:27 and a five-meter penalty shot by Phoebe Champion with 49 seconds to put Princeton in front to stay.
The margin expanded to 3-1 66 seconds into the second period when Saranna Soroka turned her defender on the left-wing and whistled a shot into the back of the cage for a two-goal lead. Hartwick and Princeton traded shots throughout the remainder of the first half as the Hawks closed the gap to 3-2 with a marker by Lily Martinez off a drive down the middle of the tank at the 6:23 mark, but the Tigers clawed their way out to a 5-2 lead.
The push to the three goal lead came about as Levine skipped a shot from the left-wing into the twine at 6:02 and Tanya Wilcox whipped a back-handed shot into the cage at 1:36 to make it 5-2. Hartwick closed the gap to a pair of markers 33 seconds later when McKee lobbed a shot past Princeton goalie Kristen Ward to trim the Tigers' lead to 5-3 at halftime.
The spread did not change in the third period as Hartwick closed the gap to 6-5 with 4:06 remaining in the third frame, but Princeton outscored the Hawks 2-1 in the final four minutes of the period to take an 8-6 lead into the fourth period.
Princeton saw the lead shaved back to one at 8-7 with 7:23 to go courtesy a man-up tally by Hanneke Alferink. However, Meigs broke behind her defender and finished a feed to make it 9-7 with 7:02 to play in the contest. The margin expanded to the 11-7 final as Brittany Zwirner added back-to-back tallies at the 4:28 and 3:43 marks to build an insurmountable lead and power the Tigers to the four-goal victory.
In goal, Ward stopped five shots to pick up the win, while Jessica Dorman blocked down two shots in suffering the loss for the Hawks.
Follwoing the tournament, Champion and Lauren Brunner were named to the Eastern tournament's second all-star team.
The game closes Princeton's season at 20-10. Princeton was the second-place finisher at Southerns and third at Easterns.
Princeton 2 3 3 3 -- 11
Hartwick 1 2 3 1 -- 7
Hartwick Goals: Jessica McKee (3); Lily Martinez (3); Hanneke Alferink
Princeton Goals: Helen Meigs (3); Phoebe Champion (2); Cari Levine (2); Brittany Zwirner (2); Tanya Wilcox; Saranna Soroka
Saves: Hartwick - Jessica Dorman (2) ; Princeton - Kristen Ward (5)
Exclusions: Hartwick - 6 ; Princeton - 7
Advantage Opportunities: Hartwick - 0-for-7 ; Princeton - 1-for-6
Sprints: Hartwick - 0-for-4 ; Princeton - 4-for-4