Princeton University
Pacific
Players Mentioned
No. 11 Men's Water Polo Falls Short Against No. 5 Pacific, 15-9
September 13, 2015 | Men's Water Polo
PRINCETON, N.J. – Suffering its first setback of the season, the 11th-ranked men's water polo team closed out play at the Princeton Invitational with a 15-9 loss to No. 5 Pacific.
With the Tigers winning the opening sprint, Thomas Nelson carved out space in front before putting the contest's first shot on target. Following a Vojislav Mitrovic save on the other end, Jamie Kuprenas narrowly missed an opportunity to put Princeton on top, rattling a shot off the crossbar.
Pushing forward with just under six minutes remaining in the first quarter, Pacific notched the game's first tally with a hard shot into the upper left corner. At 2:42, Pacific doubled its lead, beating Mitrovic with a low shot into the right side of the cage. Inside of the two-minute mark, Pacific corralled a loose ball in front and bounced a try into the net to extend its margin.
Just over a minute and a half into the second quarter, Tim Reeves received a pass in front before quickly turning it into the Tiger net. Minutes later, Ikko Saito pushed the Princeton deficit to five with a goal on the left post.
With less than five minutes remaining in the half, Princeton broke through. Getting the play started with a long outlet, Mitrovic found Ryan Wilson, who lofted a shot over the oncoming Pacific goalie. After a pair of Pacific goals made it 7-1, Wilson struck again, skipping a shot into the cage to trim the lead back down to five.
Trailing 8-2 at the intermission, Nelson netted the first goal of the second half, but Pacific answered with consecutive scores to make it 10-3. Kuprenas later cut the deficit to six before another long Mitrovic outlet resulted in a Wilson goal. With less than two minutes remaining in the third, Wilson picked up his fourth tally of the day, putting in a rebound to make it 10-6.
After a Pacific goal momentarily stemmed the Princeton tide, Connor McGoldrick bounced a shot into the cage to pull the Tigers back within four entering the final frame. Wrestling back control, Pacific recorded a pair of quick tallies in the fourth quarter's opening minutes to build a 13-7 cushion.
Wilson drew two ejections and had a steal to go along with his four goals, while Nelson and Kuprenas each finished with a pair of scores. Kuprenas added three steals, while Bradley Wachtell made a pair of blocks. Jordan Colina finished 3-0 on sprints, while Mitrovic had 13 saves.
Goals: Wilson 4, Nelson 2, Kuprenas 2, McGoldrick 1
Assists: Nelson 1, Swart 1, Jeremic 1
Steals: Kuprenas 3, Fink 2, Hinrichs 1, Wilson 1, Swart 1, Jeremic 1
Ejections Drawn: Wilson 2, Colina 1
Blocks: Wachtell 2, Nelson 1
Sprints: Colina 3-0, Swart 1-0
Saves: Mitrovic 13