No. 11 Princeton Starts NWPC Play at DeNunzio This Weekend

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton Tigers are tied for No. 11 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Varsity Poll, the organization announced today.

There was a major shakeup in the poll as UCLA climbed to No. 1 from No. 4. USC is No. 2, followed by Cal., Stanford and Pacific as they round out the top five. Harvard and Princeton are the top two Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) teams, tied at No. 11

At 9-3 on the season, the Tigers begin NWPC play this weekend vs. No. 11 Harvard, MIT and No. 14 Brown at DeNunzio Pool. The Crimson come to town on Saturday night (7 p.m.) before a doubleheader on Sunday against MIT (10 a.m.) and Brown (2:30 p.m.). All games will be featured on the Ivy League Network.

Princeton is 24-5 all-time vs. Harvard. The Crimson took home two of the three meetings last season including a thrilling 14-13 victory in the NWPC Tournament. Prior to last season, the Tigers had won 17 straight against Harvard. Princeton has never lost to MIT in 12 tries. Princeton and Brown have each won four times against each other in the last eight matchups, but the Tigers hold a 19-10 edge all-time.

2017 began for Princeton with a tripleheader at the Navy Open. The Tigers dropped Salem International (21-9), Fordham (12-7), and LaSalle (15-8) before finishing off Navy, 17-11, the next day. Jordan Colina was selected as the NWPC Player of the Week after posting 16 points, 11 goals and five assists over the 4-0 weekend at the Navy Open.

The Tigers had a 3-1 weekend at the Princeton Invitational the following week. Princeton defeated Chapman (15-6) and Johns Hopkins (9-5) before a victory over Santa Clara (16-9). On the last day of the Invitational, head coach Luis Nicolao's team fell in a close battle vs. No. 4 UCLA in a game shown on ESPNU.

Two weeks later, Princeton went 2-2 at the Mountain Pacific Invitational out in Los Angeles. Nicolao's squad lost a close one to No. 6 Long Beach State, 11-8, on the first day of the tournament before gathering a split the next day. Princeton earned a 12-11 decision over No. 19 Pomona-Pitzer in overtime, but was taken down by No. 7 UC-Santa Barbara, 14-7. Colina's tally with 12 seconds remaining gave the Tigers a 15-14 win over No. 13 UC-San Diego to complete the West Coast trip.

Four Tigers have registered at least 20 goals highlighted by Colina's 36 goals. Sean Duncan and Matt Payne are second with 23 tallies, followed by Michael Swart's 20 goals. Colina also has a team-high 48 points while Payne has added 37 points. Ryan Wilson has a team-best 34 helpers. The Tigers are an impressive 32-18 (.640) on sprints with Wilson's 15 victories leading the way. Vojislav Mitrovic is 7-3 on the season with 124 saves and a .559 save percentage in goal for Princeton.

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