Princeton University
#8 UC Irvine
Men's Water Polo Takes Down UC Irvine 12-7, Advances to Final Four
December 01, 2023 | Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES, CA - The No. 4 seeded Princeton men's water polo team took down UC Irvine 12-7 in the first round of the NCAA Championships this afternoon at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
Vladan Mitrovic came out hot and scored the first goal of the day at the 6:39 minute mark followed by a Finn LeSieur goal assisted by Mason Killion at 4:48 with an extra attacker. Mason Killion found the back of the net to take a three goal lead for the Tigers in the first.
Tigers led 3-2 at the end of the first.
George Caras dropped a shot in the net, assisted by 14 JP Ohl with an extra attacker at the 7:22 minute mark in the 2nd period. The Tigers once again scored consecutive goals to start the period with Yurian Quinones finding the back of the cage with help from Isaac Rotenberg to extend lead to 5-2.
Princeton 4, UC Irvine 2 / 7:22 2nd
— Princeton Water Polo (@Pwaterpolo) December 1, 2023
Caras catch and dump! Tigers start the 2nd off strong. pic.twitter.com/tRYMijPK8t
UCI chipped away at the deficit and scored 2 unanswered goals to cut the Tiger's lead to one, but goals from Yurian Quinones and Mason Killion put the score at 7-4 going the half. Killion and Quinones both had two goals in the first half.
Vladan Mitrovic, coming out of the break strong once again, beat the goalie and netted his second goal on the day. Finn LeSieur took advanatge of a scoring oppurtunity in the third period and Logan McCarroll went bar down to add another tally to the scoresheet. The Tigers scored three goals while only giving up two and the score was 10-6 following the 3rd period.
Princeton 11, UC Irvine 7 / 6:28 4th
— Princeton Water Polo (@Pwaterpolo) December 1, 2023
Vladan fires this one in for a hat-trick! pic.twitter.com/PHbAikh0pF
During the final period, UC Irvine fought their way back to bring the score within 3 but the Tiger scoring persisted. Vladan Mitrovic fired a shot at the 6:28 minute mark and sealed his hat-trick followed by a Gavin Molloy goal to put away the game with 2:56 left to play.
The Tigers went on to win 12-7.
Things you love to see …
— Princeton Water Polo (@Pwaterpolo) December 1, 2023
The Bracket Update ???? pic.twitter.com/GZQAP07gQP
Next Up
The Tigers will take on No. 1 seeded UCLA on Saturday, December 2nd at 5:00 PM (2:00 PM PT) in the final four.
