Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Men's Water Polo Opens League Slate This Weekend on the Road
September 24, 2010 | Men's Water Polo
Princeton sits at 5-2 this season after two weekends of action. The Tigers opened the season with a 3-1 performance at the Princeton Invitational and went 2-1 in three games at the ECAC Championships last weekend to place third in the 12-team field.
The Tigers opened the weekend in a low-scoring 6-4 win against MIT. Although the score was close, the result was never in doubt as the Princeton defense blanked MIT for the first half and held steady throughout the second half. Tommy Donahue had four of Princeton's six goals in the win.
The weekend continued in the semifinal round with a hard-fought loss to then 13th-ranked St. Francis. The game was deadlocked entering the final quarter with the Terriers scoring the eventual game winner with less than two minutes left to play. Princeton rebounded on Sunday with a 9-6 win over 20th-ranked Bucknell in the third-place game. Princeton took control of the game in the first quarter and never looked back in the win. Along with Donahue; Tommy Parolin and Tim Wenzlau scored twice in the win.
Donahue scored seven goals in the three games and now leads the team with 17 goal, three better than Tim Wenzlau's 14 goals scored. They are the only two players to have reached double figures.
The weekend's results kept Princeton ranked 17th in the national polls. Princeton is the second-highest ranked Eastern team, behind 12th-ranked St. Francis, and the highest-ranked Southern team, a spot ahead of No. 18 Navy.
Princeton opens its weekend at 12 noon at Johns Hopkins. Princeton is 27-3 all-time against the Blue Jays and has won the last four meetings, including wins of 11-5 and 15-8 last season. Hopkins is 6-5 this season and enters the weekend coming off a fifth-place finish at ECACs. There, the Blue Jays fell in the opener to Brown in overtime before picking up wins over George Washington and Fordham to place fifth.
The Tigers will travel from Baltimore to Annapolis on Saturday night to take on 18th-ranked Navy. Princeton is 17-29 all-time against the Midshipmen and went 2-3 against them last season, each winning during the league regular season at home. Navy won the ECAC and Southern title games, but the Tigers turned the tables in the Eastern championship game to claim the NCAA tournament berth. Navy is 13-4 this season and dropped three of four games at last week's NorCal Tournament. Navy topped Pomona-Pitzer, but fell to USC, Santa Clara and UC San Diego.
Princeton travels to Washington, D.C., on Sunday to take on George Washington. Princeton is 26-1 all-time against the Colonials and won last year's meetings by scores of 15-7 and 12-9. GW is 4-8 this season and finished seventh at ECACs last weekend. The Colonials opened the event with a win over Iona, but dropped their next three games to Bucknell, Johns Hopkins and MIT.
After this weekend's league slate, the Tigers will head to California next weekend to compete at the SoCal Tournament, hosted by UCLA. Princeton will face the host to open the tournament.