Princeton University Athletics
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Women's Water Polo Opens Spring Trip at Aztec Invitational
March 11, 2011 | Women's Water Polo
PRINCETON (3/11/11) - The Princeton women's water polo team begins a week in California this weekend with four games at the San Diego State Aztec Invitational. Princeton will face three ranked teams in the event beginning on Saturday morning with UC San Diego.
Princeton enters the weekend with a record 6-4 after earning one win in three home games last weekend. Princeton lost to 17th-ranked Indiana in its first game 9-8 after having a pair of two-goal leads in the first half. Princeton erased a two-goal deficit in the closing minutes but a late Indiana goal broke the deadlock in the final minute. Four Tigers-Cari Levine, Molly McBee, Katie Rigler and Brittany Zwirner-scored twice in the loss.
Princeton bounced back later that day with an 11-4 win over George Washington, its second win of the season over the Colonials. Sarah Hutchison paced the offense with three goals while McBee and Audrey Zak each scored twice. Princeton final game of the weekend was a 12-6 loss to 14th-rankd Hartwick as the Tigers fell behind 5-0 in the first half and could never dig out of the hole. Zwirner scored four times in the loss.
Zwirner took over the team lead in goals with 19 thanks to the seven goals she scored over the weekend. Katie Rigler ranks second with 17 and McBee is the third Tiger in double-figures with 13 goals this season. Lauren Brunner leads the team with 13 assusts, one more than Zwirner and three ahead of Rachele Gyroffy. Zwirner also has a team best 22 steals.
The Tigers' week on the West Coast begins early Saturday morning with a game against 18th-ranked UC San Diego. The Tritons are one of three ranked opponents on the docket for Princeton this weekend along with fourth-ranked Hawaii and 10th-ranked San Jose State. Princeton is currently 0-3 this season against teams ranked in the National Top 20, with losses to 19th-ranked Pacific, 17th-ranked Indiana and 14th-ranked Hartwick. This season marks the third time in four years that Princeton will compete at the Aztec Invitational. Princeton split four games in last year's event and was 3-1 at the 2008 one.
| UC San Diego | Cal State Bakersfield | Hawaii | San Jose State | |
| Series Record | Princeton leads 6-3 | CSUB leads 2-1 | Hawaii leads 2-1 | SJSU leads 4-0 |
| Last Meeting | March 14, 2010 Princeton 6-4 |
March 13, 2010 CSUB 11-10 (OT) |
Feb. 9, 2001 Hawaii 11-9 |
March 17, 2007 SJSU 22-9 |
| Season Record | 7-8 | 4-14 | 6-4 | 10-8 |
| National Rank | 18 | - | 4 | 10 |
Princeton will be in California for the full week of Spring Break. After the weekend in San Diego, Princeton plays at Concordia on Wednesday, then wraps up the trip at the LMU Invitational next Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles.