Players Mentioned
Princeton Looking to Defend CWPA Title at Harvard
April 27, 2016 | Women's Water Polo
PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 17 nationally ranked Princeton women's water polo team will take on the No. 18 Harvard Crimson on Friday at the Blodgett Pool in the first round of the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship.
Game time against the Crimson is set for 4:30 p.m on Friday. The winner of this game battles the winner of the No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 8 George Washington/No. 9 Connecticut College contest. Princeton is the defending CWPA Champion as it defeated No. 11 Indiana, 7-6 last season. After dropping seven straight matchups against the Hoosiers, the Tigers picked up their third conference crown in four years.
Princeton has dropped Harvard twice this season. The Tigers scored a 12-8 decision over the Crimson at Blodgett in March. Freshman Lindsey Kelleher had four tallies to help Princeton's offense. In April, the women's water polo team won 9-7 over Harvard as four different players scored two goals each in the win.
Two weeks ago, the Tigers had a 3-1 weekend at DeNunzio Pool to wrap up the regular season portion of the 2016 season. Princeton won 13-6 over Brown and then nabbed a 15-2 victory over George Washington.Before the match vs. George Washington, the team honored senior Pippa Temple. The senior has been part of two Collegiate Water Polo Association's (CWPA) Championships and NCAA appearances in 2013 and 2015. The Tigers are 107-19 during Temple's tenure as well. The next day, Princeton was victorious over No. 21 Hartwick, 13-12, but fell to Bucknell, 10-9.
Sophomore Haley Wan leads the Tigers in goals (50), assists (41), steals (32) and is second in sprint wins (14). In the two matchups against Harvard, Wan has totaled seven points. Five other Tigers have recorded at least 24 goals. Kelleher has begun her collegiate career with a stellar performance as she's converted 42 goals, dished out 34 assists, swiped 22 steals and has drawn 20 ejections.
Princeton's 17-6 overall record has been predicated on a tremendous defensive effort that has seen 11 different players snag at least 10 steals. Junior Morgan Hallock boast a team-best 57 drawn ejections along with 38 goals, 14 steals and seven assists. Sophomore goalie Helena van Brande is 13-5 on the season with 132 saves, a .516 save percentage and 34 swipes.