Players Mentioned
No. 9 Women's Water Polo Set to Host No. 19 Wagner in NCAA Play-In Game
April 28, 2015 | Women's Water Polo
NCAA PLAY-IN VIDEO PREVIEW
CWPA CHAMPIONSHIP VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
COMPLETE NCAA BRACKET
PRINCETON, N.J. – Capturing its third Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) championship in four seasons, the 12th-ranked Princeton University women's water polo team stands poised to make its third NCAA Tournament appearance.
Securing the conference's automatic bid with a 7-6 victory over No. 11 Indiana on Sunday afternoon, the Tigers will open tournament play on Saturday, May 2 with a play-in game against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion No. 19 Wagner College at DeNunzio Pool. The winner will advance to face No. 1 Stanford in the national quarterfinals on Friday, May 8.
Winners of seven-straight, the Orange and Black enter NCAA play with a 29-3 overall record and a 9-1 mark in CWPA play. Also making their third tournament appearance, Wagner carries a 25-8 (10-2 MAAC) record into Saturday's showdown.
Game time is set for 1 p.m. Admission to Saturday's NCAA Play-In will be free of charge.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Princeton is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance having also secured berths in 2012 and 2013.
• The Tigers are 3-3 all-time in NCAA play.
• In 2013, the Orange and Black dropped an 8-6 quarterfinal match-up against UCLA before securing a pair of wins over Iona in the consolation round (W, 12-2) and UC-San Diego in the fifth-place game (W, 12-10 – 2OT).
• In its first NCAA appearance in 2012, Princeton fell to USC in the quarterfinals (L, 14-2) before defeating Iona in the consolation round, 9-5. The Tigers would then drop the fifth-place match to Loyola Marymount, 15-11.
CWPA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Helping Princeton to its fourth CWPA crown, Ashleigh Johnson, Ashley Hatcher and Jessie Holechek took home first-team All-Tournament honors, while Taylor Dunstan was named to the second team.
• Stopping 29 of the 40 shots she faced, including 17 in the final against Indiana, Johnson posted a 0.725 save percentage.
• Scoring eight goals on just 11 shots, Hatcher also collected four steals and three assists.
• In Sunday's championship, Hatcher tallied four goals, three steals and three drawn ejections.
• Holechek dished out three helpers in the finale against the Hoosiers, while Dunstan racked up six goals and four assists in three CWPA Tournament games.
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
• With 17 saves against Indiana, Ashleigh Johnson surpassed former Tiger and CWPA Hall of Fame inductee Goga Vukmirovic (990) as the program's all-time career saves leader.
• With 1,003 stops, Johnson is the only Princeton player to ever record at least 1,000 saves.
• Owning or sharing the eight highest-single game save totals in school history, Johnson broke her own program record with 22 saves against George Washington on Mar. 28.
• Johnson also currently owns the two-highest single-season save totals in school history with 367 in 2014 and 366 in 2013.
• Recently named the CWPA Player of the Year, Johnson has posted a 20-3 overall record this season with a 0.701 save percentage, 34 steals and 13 assists.
CLIMBING THE LADDER
• A first-team All-CWPA honoree, Ashley Hatcher has racked up a team-high 78 goals in 2015.
• Hatcher's 78 goals this season is the fifth-highest total in school history, while her 194 career scores also rank fifth all-time.
• Hatcher also sits ninth in the Princeton recordbook with 68 career assists.
• Ranked second on the team in both goals and assists, fellow CWPA first-teamer Jessie Holechek is also approaching several benchmarks.
• Holechek is currently tied for seventh on the program ledger in career goals with 159, while also sitting tied for fifth in assists with 88.
• Dishing out 35 helpers this season, Taylor Dunstan upped her career total to 134, second only to former Tiger Helen B. Meigs (2007-10) in the Princeton recordbook.
BALANCING ACT
• Princeton has relied on a balanced attack for much of this season with all 15 of its field players recording a goal.
• Eight different Tigers have netted at least 20 goals, led by Ashley Hatcher with 78.
• Hatcher has found the back of the net in all but two of her 28 outings, scoring at least three goals in a game on 15 occasions.
• Jessie Holechek has 46 goals and 38 assists, factoring into the scoring in 27 of her 29 appearances.
• Pippa Temple and Morgan Hallock have 34 and 31 goals, respectively, with Hallock also drawing a team-high 91 ejections.
• Taylor Dunstan has 20 goals, 35 assists, 28 steals and 20 drawn ejections, while Hannah Lapkin has 21 scores.
STEPPING UP
• Princeton's freshmen have played an integral role in the team's success this season.
• Ranking fourth on the team in goals (33), Haley Wan leads the squad in assists (45), steals (29) and blocks (14).
• Also going 53-35 (0.602) on sprints, Wan's 45 helpers this season are tied for the third-highest total in program history.
• Chelsea Johnson has totaled 30 goals, 32 drawn ejections, eight assists and eight steals in 24 appearances.
• Sydney Cheong and Emily Smith have 16 and 15 scores, respectively, with Smith recording two crucial goals in Princeton's 7-6 win over Indiana in the CWPA final.
• Logging 400:50 minutes as the team's back-up netminder, Helena van Brande is 9-0 on the year with a 0.655 save percentage and 20 steals.
SCOUTING WAGNER
• Wagner is making its third NCAA appearance, going 0-6 in its first two tournament trips.
• Princeton is 13-0 all-time against Wagner, which includes a 5-0 mark at DeNunzio Pool.
• Earlier this season, the Tigers upended the Seahawks at the Bucknell Invitational, 9-6.
• Jessie Holechek and Morgan Hallock each netted three goals, while Ashleigh Johnson posted 16 saves.
• Over the weekend, 19th-ranked Wagner upended Marist, 10-8, to capture its second consecutive MAAC championsip.
• Jess Lundgren turned in a hat trick, while Jessica Burdge, Lily Doerfler and Megan Rodriguez each had two scores.
• Wagner's Megan Rodriguez took home MAAC Tournament MVP honors, while Doerfler and Lundgren each earned a spot on the All-Tourney team.
• Lundgren leads the team with 173 points on 115 goals and 58 assists.
• Rodriguez is second on the squad with 133 points (56 G, 77 A), while Burdge has 91 points on 56 goals and 35 helpers.
• Kimberly Watson (41 G, 35 A), Elise Begg (34 G, 35 A) and Doerfler (61 G, 6 A) have 76, 69 and 67 points, respectively.
• Emily Riddle has posted a 24-8 record in net, logging 946:36 minutes.
• Sporting a 7.84 GAA, Riddle has registered a 0.477 save percentage.