Thursday, December 2
Los Angeles, Calif.
6:00 PM (3:00 PM PT)
Princeton University
at
#1 UCLA
Mitchell Cooper
Photo by: Nicole Maloney
No. 10 Princeton Takes On UCLA in NCAA Quarterfinals Thursday
December 01, 2021 | Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The No. 10 Princeton Tigers continue their NCAA Tournament journey with a contest vs. No. 1 UCLA on Thursday (6 p.m., 3 p.m. PT).
The Tigers secured the program's first NCAA victory since 2011 with a 17-8 decision over Fordham on Saturday. The turning point of the contest was Princeton's five consecutive goals to end the third stanza, taking a 15-6 lead into the fourth frame. The Tigers were not threatened the rest of the way.
Head coach Dustin Litvak's team's 26 victories (26-7) are a new program record. Princeton defeated Brown and then St. Francis-Brooklyn to earn the Northeast Water Polo Conference title, collecting the team's sixth conference crown. Princeton has 11 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.
The defending national champion UCLA Bruins are 19-3 overall this season. An astounding 16 of the team's 19 victories have come against ranked opponents. The Bruins are led in scoring by Nicolas Saveljic and Felix Brozyna-Vilm with 30 goals each. Saveljic was the 2020-21 Cutino Award winner. UCLA has six All-MPSF selections in Savjelic, Brozyna-Vilm, Evan Rosenfield, Tommy Gruwell, Jake Cavano and Bernardo Maurizi.
Princeton has 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 been outstanding since coming over from Croatia, dropping in 66 goals, 41 assists, 40 steals, 37 drawn ejections. He's lost just eight sprints in 110 attempts. He has 12 hat tricks this season including a six-goal outing vs. No. 16 Bucknell.
Maloney paces the Tigers with 67 tallies and is second in assists (37). He's also contributed 44 drawn ejections, 19 steals and 17 blocks. The junior has nearly doubled his career goal output while producing a .549 shooting this year. He has hat tricks in four of his last five performances, giving him 12 overall. Cooper has added in 32 goals, 41 assists, 21 steals and 19 drawn ejections. He has 10 multi-goal outings and 13 multi-assist performances.
The Tigers had a balanced offensive attack with 13 players registering at least 10 goals in Maloney (67), Pozaric (66), Wyatt Benson (35), George Caras (34), Mason Killion (33), Mitchell Cooper (32), Vladan Mitrovic (27), Yurian Quinones (27), Joan Coloma (21), Ryan Neapole (18), Pierce Maloney (14), Isaac Rotenberg (12) and Matej Sekulic (10). Antonio Knez and Billy Motherway have combined for a .533 save percentage.
The Tigers secured the program's first NCAA victory since 2011 with a 17-8 decision over Fordham on Saturday. The turning point of the contest was Princeton's five consecutive goals to end the third stanza, taking a 15-6 lead into the fourth frame. The Tigers were not threatened the rest of the way.
Head coach Dustin Litvak's team's 26 victories (26-7) are a new program record. Princeton defeated Brown and then St. Francis-Brooklyn to earn the Northeast Water Polo Conference title, collecting the team's sixth conference crown. Princeton has 11 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.
The defending national champion UCLA Bruins are 19-3 overall this season. An astounding 16 of the team's 19 victories have come against ranked opponents. The Bruins are led in scoring by Nicolas Saveljic and Felix Brozyna-Vilm with 30 goals each. Saveljic was the 2020-21 Cutino Award winner. UCLA has six All-MPSF selections in Savjelic, Brozyna-Vilm, Evan Rosenfield, Tommy Gruwell, Jake Cavano and Bernardo Maurizi.
Princeton has 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 been outstanding since coming over from Croatia, dropping in 66 goals, 41 assists, 40 steals, 37 drawn ejections. He's lost just eight sprints in 110 attempts. He has 12 hat tricks this season including a six-goal outing vs. No. 16 Bucknell.
Maloney paces the Tigers with 67 tallies and is second in assists (37). He's also contributed 44 drawn ejections, 19 steals and 17 blocks. The junior has nearly doubled his career goal output while producing a .549 shooting this year. He has hat tricks in four of his last five performances, giving him 12 overall. Cooper has added in 32 goals, 41 assists, 21 steals and 19 drawn ejections. He has 10 multi-goal outings and 13 multi-assist performances.
The Tigers had a balanced offensive attack with 13 players registering at least 10 goals in Maloney (67), Pozaric (66), Wyatt Benson (35), George Caras (34), Mason Killion (33), Mitchell Cooper (32), Vladan Mitrovic (27), Yurian Quinones (27), Joan Coloma (21), Ryan Neapole (18), Pierce Maloney (14), Isaac Rotenberg (12) and Matej Sekulic (10). Antonio Knez and Billy Motherway have combined for a .533 save percentage.
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