No. 10 Men's Water Polo Ready For No. 16 Fordham Saturday In Opening Round of NCAA Tournament

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Men's Water Polo

October 11, 8PM

at UCLA

Los Angeles, Calif.

Men's Water Polo

October 12, 4PM

at Pepperdine

Malibu, Calif.

Men's Water Polo

October 14, 8PM

at USC

Los Angeles, Calif.

Men's Water Polo

October 15, 9PM

at UC Irvine

Irvine, Calif.

Men's Water Polo

October 16, 9PM

at Long Beach State

Long Beach, Calif.

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Northeast Water Polo Conference Champion No. 10 Princeton Tigers welcome the No. 16 Fordham Rams to DeNunzio Pool in the opening contest of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

These two squads face off at 1 p.m. They have already faced each other once this season with Princeton taking a 13-6 decision in September. Roko Pozaric had a hat trick and three assists in the victory. Princeton leads the all-time series, 15-1.

Head coach Dustin Litvak's team is 25-7 overall this season. The Tigers ended the regular season with a 5-1 stretch in the conference to secure the No. 1 seed in the tournament. One of those wins was over No. 12 Harvard, the program's first win against the Crimson since the 2018 NWPC Championship game. Princeton has nine wins against nationally ranked opponents include a California trip that featured three straight victories over No. 17 Loyola Marymount, No. 10 Pepperdine, and No. 13 UC Irvine.

Fordham is 26-6 after winning the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference title last weekend. The Rams took down Navy on the road, 9-6, earning the program's first ever NCAA Tournament bid. The team's signature victories include decisions over No. 11 Harvard, No. 15 Bucknell and No. 20 Navy. George Papanikolaou paces the offense with 74 goals along 34 assists. Jacopo Parrella leads the team in points, contributing 57 tallies and 66 helpers. Bailey O'Mara has been the Rams' top goalie with a .540 save percentage.

Princeton had three NWPC all-conference selections in Pozaric, Keller Maloney and Mitchell Cooper. Pozaric was selected as the NWPC Rookie of the Year and honored on the First-Team All-Conference. The freshman has burst onto the scene in incredible fashion, dropping in 62 goals, 40 assists, 39 steals, 37 drawn ejections. He's lost just seven sprints in 106 attempts. He had 11 hat tricks this season including a six-goal outing vs. No. 16 Bucknell.

Maloney leads the squad with 65 tallies and is second in assists (37). He's also contributed 43 drawn ejections, 19 steals and 17 blocks. The junior has nearly doubled his career goal output while producing a .546 shooting this year. He is currently on a streak of four consecutive hat tricks, pushing his total this year to 12. Cooper has added in 30 goals, 40 assists, 20 steals and 18 drawn ejections. He has nine multi-goal outings and 13 multi-assist performances.

Litvak has helped Princeton to 25 victories, typing a program record with the 2004 squad that won the CWPA Eastern crown and placed fourth at NCAAs, leading him to be named NWPC Coach of the Year.

The Tigers had a balanced offensive attack with 13 players registering at least 10 goals in Maloney (65), Pozaric (62), George Caras (34), Mason Killion (33), Wyatt Benson (33), Cooper (30), Vladan Mitrovic (27), Yurian Quinones (26), Joan Coloma (20), Ryan Neapole (18), Pierce Maloney (11), Isaac Rotenberg (11) and Matej Sekulic (10). Antonio Knez and Billy Motherway have combined for a .533 save percentage.

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