Princeton University
Johns Hopkins
Players Mentioned
NCAA Bound! Men's Water Polo Edges Out Johns Hopkins in CWPA Championship
November 22, 2015 | Men's Water Polo
PRINCETON, N.J. – Thomas Nelson netted a team-high four goals to lead the 11th-ranked Princeton University men's water polo team to a hard-fought 7-6 victory over Johns Hopkins in the 2015 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) championship game.
Claiming its fourth CWPA title (2004, 2009, 2011, 2015), the Tigers improved to 22-4 on the season and secured the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Prior to this season, Princeton qualified for NCAA berths in 2004, 2009, and 2011 (the program also qualified as a club team in 1992). The Tigers will face UC-San Diego in a play-in game on Dec. 2 at the University of Southern California. As the championship shifts to UCLA, the winner will face the top-seeded Bruins in the national semifinals on Dec. 5 with the championship game slated for Dec. 6.
Staking the Orange and Black to an early margin, Nelson netted the game's first goal with just nine seconds left in the opening period. Knotted at 1-1, Michael Swart found the back of the opposing cage at the 6:11 mark of the second before fellow freshman Matt Payne gave Princeton a two-goal edge inside of two minutes.
With JHU pulling even on consecutive goals to start the third, Nelson put in his second of the afternoon to make it 4-3. Once again tied later in the period, Nelson struck again to put the Tigers on top heading into the final frame. At 6:58 in the fourth, Nelson made it three-in-a-row to push the margin to 6-4. Hopkins answered with a goal of its own 1:17 later, but Payne responded with a score to pad the Princeton cushion.
Nelson added two steals to his team-high five goals. Payne finished with two goals and a steal, while Swart had the Tigers' only other score. Ryan Wilson chipped in with a steal and three blocks while Jovan Jeremic nabbed three steals.
Setting a new single-season program benchmark, Vojislav Mitrovic had 14 saves. Making six stops in the first half, Mitrovic turned away six tries in the third quarter before tacking on one more in the final frame. Upping his season total to 293 saves, Mitrovic set a new Princeton record, surpassing Gregory Stoll's mark of 266 set in 1997. Mitrovic was named the championship's Most Valuable Player, with Nelson joining the sophomore goalie on the All-CWPA Tournament first team.
Goals: Nelson 4, Payne 2, Swart 1
Assists: Hinrichs 1, Colina 1, Swart 1, Jeremic 1, Payne 1
Steals: Jeremic 3, Nelson 2, Kuprenas 1, Hinrichs 1, Wachtell 1, Colina 1, Wilson 1, Swart 1, Payne 1
Ejections Drawn: Colina 3, Nelson 1, Kuprenas 1, Fink 1, Wilson 1
Blocks: Wilson 3, Kuprenas 1, Colina 1, Payne 1
Sprints: Colina 2-0, Hinrichs 1-0, Wilson 1-0
Saves: Mitrovic 14