Princeton University
No. 13 St. Francis (Championship Game)
Players Mentioned
Men's Water Polo Falls to St. Francis 11-9 in CWPA Championship Finals
November 25, 2013 | Men's Water Polo
After consecutive nights of fourth quarter heroics, the 18th-ranked Princeton men's water polo team was unable to find a way to put together another late rally and fell 11-9 to No. 13 St. Francis in the CWPA Championship title game Sunday.
Both sides opened with a goal apiece, but a five-goal second quarter by the Terriers put Princeton down 6-4 and forced the Tigers to play catch up over the second half.
Princeton responded with goals from Jamie Kuprenas and Curtis Fink to make it a one-goal contest, 8-7, entering the fourth.
Goals from Jovan Jeremic and Thomas Nelson with just over four minutes left in regulation knotted things up, 9-9, but it was not enough to swing the game's momentum to the Tigers for good and St. Francis responded with two goals to close out the game.
Jeremic and Nelson led the offense with three and two goals, respectively, while adding an assist each.
For his work all tournament, Nelson was named to the CWPA Championship All-Tournament First Team.
Joining Nelson earning tournament honors were goalie Alex Gow and attacker Drew Hoffenberg, who both placed on the second team.
Gow made 15 saves and a steal versus the Terriers, while Hoffenberg had two steals and a goal.
Princeton concludes the year with a 22-6 overall record.
No. 18 Princeton: 1 – 3 – 3 – 2 – 9
No. 13 St. Francis: 1 – 5 – 2 – 3 – 11
Goals: Nelson 2, Fink 1, Hoffenberg 1, Jeremic 3, Kuprenas 2
Assists: Nelson 1, Jeremic 1
Steals: Butler 1, Shannon 2, Hoffenberg 2, Kuprenas 1, Gow 1
Saves: Gow 15
CWPA Championship All-Tournament Team:
First Team: Thomas Nelson
Second Team: Alex Gow (goalie), Drew Hoffenberg