Princeton University
MIT
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Men's Water Polo Tops Brown and MIT for 5-0 Start to 2011
September 11, 2011 | Men's Water Polo
LINKS: Tournament Scores
PRINCETON (9/11/11) - The start to the Princeton men's water polo season could not have been better as the Tigers picked up two more wins on Sunday to run their record to 5-0 at the season-opening Princeton Invitational. On Sunday the Tigers topped Ivy-rival Brown 11-6 and then defeated MIT 14-7.
In the day's first game, Princeton used a three-goal run in the third quarter to build a one-goal half-time lead into a four-goal lead with eight minutes left in the game. Thomas Nelson started the run with a natural goal and Drew Hoffenburg and Kayj Shannon continued it with man-up goals.
Down 2-1 in the first quarter, Hoffenberg and Chris Cottrell scored goals to give Princeton a 3-2 lead after a period of play. The Tigers would never trail again in the game, but Brown hung tough through the first half, drawing within a goal on two occasions and trailing 6-5 at the half.
Shannon led all scorers with three goals in the win, while Hoffenberg and Nelson each scored twice. Kurt Buchbinder had a goal and two assists in the win while Hoffenberg had an assist to go with his two goals. Cottrell had a team-high two assists.
Tyler Amina continued his strong start to the season in goal with a 13-save performance for the win as he made six of his seven saves in the final quarter, including a 5-meter stop. He also added two assists.
Princeton scored on three of five man-up chances, while holding Brown to two goals on eight chances.
Princeton 3 3 3 2 - 11
Brown 2 3 0 1 - 6
Goals: Shannon 3, Hoffenberg 2, Nelson 2, Buchbinder 1, Cottrell 1, Donahue 1, Wenzlau 1
Assists: Buchbinder 2, Butler 1, Helou 1, Hoffenberg 1
Saves: Amina 13 (32:00)Princeton completed the day with a 14-7 win over MIT in their fifth game of the weekend. Like its two games on Saturday, Princeton raced to a big lead and cruised in the second half en route to the win.
Princeton opened a 6-0 lead in the first quarter and held a seven-goal lead at 9-2 at the half. Tommy Donahue, Mike Helou and Tim Wenzlau each scored two goals in the win, while eight others netted single goals. Helou added two his goals with an assist, steal and four ejections drawn.
Amina made six saves in the first half for the win while Nick Gilligan stopped four shots in the second half.
Princeton 6 3 4 1 - 14
MIT 0 2 1 4 - 7
Goals: Donahue 2, Helou 2, Wenzlau 2, Buchbinder, Galainena, Hoffenberg, Lebovitz, Ruth, Shannon, Spencer, Still
Saves: Amina 6 (16:00), Gilligan 4 (16:00)
At 5-0 Princeton continues its season next weekend at the North-South Invitational at Navy. Princeton has games against Iona, Connecticut College and Fordham at the tournament, and will also field a "B" team against the North Virginia Club and Navy's "B" team.