Season Recap: Tigers Place Third In NWPC Tournament

Here's a recap of the men's water polo team's 2016 season that wrapped up with a third-place finish at the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Tournament.

Signature Wins:
Early in the season, Princeton almost broke a school record during a 25-8 victory over Salem International to complete the Navy Open on Sept. 4. The Tigers' 25 goals were one shy of the program mark that was set on Sept. 25, 1999, coincidentally, also against Salem International (then Salem-Teikyo). 13 different Tigers scored in the game including sophomore Michael Swart, who set a career high, with five tallies.

Princeton picked up its first victory against a ranked team with a 13-3 decision over then No. 15 Air Force. Air Force was held scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the game as five players registered goals for Princeton. After the Falcons scored with 14 seconds remaining in the first half (6-2), they were shut out for the next 15 minutes and 12 seconds. During that span, the Tigers posted seven more goals, helping themselves to their fifth win of the season.

The men's water polo team registered an 11-10 victory over No. 10 Harvard despite missing five players by the end of the game. Trailing 5-2 in the second period, the Tigers rallied all the way back and led 7-6 with 2:59 remaining in the first half. Princeton took an 8-7 advantage into halftime. The Tigers registered the first two tallies of the second stanza before Harvard ended the third quarter with the last two goals, setting the score at 10-9. Colina's final goal of the night put Princeton up 11-9, but Harvard quickly answered a minute later. The Tigers' defense along with Mitrovic held Harvard off the scoreboard off for the final seven minutes of the game to secure the win.

Awards:
NWPC Rookie of the Year: Sean Duncan
All-NWPC Team: Matt Payne (first team), Vojislav Mitrovic (second team), Jordan Colina (second team), Ryan Wilson (second team), Sean Duncan (second team)
All-NWPC Tournament Team: Sean Duncan (first team), Matt Payne (first team), Ryan Wilson (second team)
NWPC Player of the Week: Matt Payne (Sept. 28)
NWPC Defensive Player of the Week: Vojislav Mitrovic (Sept. 14, Sept. 28, Nov. 3)
NWPC Rookie of the Week: Sean Duncan (Sept. 14, Sept. 28, Oct. 11, Nov. 21)

Notes: The Tigers have won at least 18 games four straight seasons … Princeton has not finished lower than third in conference since 2007 … The Tigers recorded two wins over teams from California … Nicolao's unit had six victories over ranked teams … Matt Payne led the team with 69 goals and 54 assists in 2016 … Payne had one of the greatest seasons in program history as he was the only player to ever score at least 60 goals and dish out 50 assists in a year. … The sophomore broke a single-game record with eight assists vs. MIT (Oct. 2) … Nine players registered 10+ goals … Jordan Colina secured his third straight 50+ goal campaign … Sean Duncan drew 61 ejections.

Looking Ahead: Princeton will return its top five scorers including goalie Vojislav Mitrovic. The Tigers lost to the NWPC Champion, Harvard, by one goal in the conference semifinals. With a majority of its offensive core coming back, the Tigers will look to return to the conference title game for the fourth time in five seasons in 2017.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results