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Beltway Blowouts

Even the goal posts couldn't withstand the strength of the women's water polo team this weekend.

The Tigers (14-3 overall, 8-0 Collegiate Water Polo Association) demolished the Mid-Atlantic competition in Washington, D.C., and even broke a goal as they continued their CWPA winning streak.

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A 16-3 win over Maryland kicked off the tournament Saturday. The team then drove past James Madison, which it easily defeated, 19-3. Against the host team, George Washington, the Tigers tallied up the goals and beat the Colonials, 19-7, in a game which was briefly interrupted when freshman phenom Adele McCarthy broke the cage with one of her many powerful shots.

Villanova, the tournament's toughest competition, also fell to the Tigers — for the third time this season. Princeton's 8-2 victory over the Wildcats came Sunday, at the end of the tournament.

"It was a long weekend for us," said two-meter McCarthy who led the team with 21 goals at the tournament. "We basically expected to win all our games but Villanova, which was probably the most challenging, came at the end of the weekend."

A confident Tiger squad was happy with its overall performance but felt it had some initial trouble adjusting to the skill levels of the competition — as well as to a different pool.

"The teams this weekend were very different from the California teams we played over Spring Break," McCarthy said. "It was hard to demand more of ourselves, given the competition."

Baby pool

At George Washington's pool this weekend, the Tigers had to play in a shallow end, something the team hasn't seen in a long time. Senior captain and goalie Goga Vukmirovic, however, adapted well to the pool as she had 10 saves against Maryland and 12 saves against Villanova.

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"Goga played amazingly well, as always," freshman driver Jenny Edwards said. "She is definitely the best goalie that I have ever had playing behind me and it's such a good feeling having so much confidence in your goalie. It allows us to take some chances on defense and mix things up a little."

McCarthy, too, had a strong performance this weekend. Demonstrating her true scoring strength, she broke the goal in the game against George Washington.

Slapstick

"The funniest moment this weekend was when Adele barred in a cross-cage shot from the hole and broke the cage in the process," junior driver Alina Brown said. "The corner of the cage just detached from the impact, and the other goalie's face when it happened was just hilarious, it was great."

Playing Maryland this weekend lacked the rivalry of previous seasons. While they had fallen to the Terrapins in both the CWPA tournament and the Eastern Championship last year, the Tigers hammered them Saturday.

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"It was a little disappointing playing Maryland this weekend, even though we won," Brown said. "There used to be a big rivalry between the two teams, but they lost most of their starting lineup last year, and they're just not as competitive as they used to be."