Men's water polo loses in first round at Easterns, finishes fifth

With one minute left in men's water polo's first-round match against Queens at Eastern Championships on Saturday, Princeton was not on cruise control toward the next round as many had expected. Instead, the Tigers were struggling to stay afloat, trying to overcome a four-goal deficit which they had narrowed to one in the waning moments.

Granted, the Tigers had played a pretty sloppy game overall, but with momentum now in their favor, they were primed to wash away the memory of the first three quarters and force the game into overtime.

But then, as the squad fought to retain offensive possession, a whistle was blown from out of nowhere. Ejection on Princeton, ball possession given to the other side. In an instant, the Tigers' valiant comeback was over.

"We ended up playing catch-up for the entirety of the game," senior driver Jimmy Orozco said. "And sometimes when you play catch-up, you just don't catch up."

Hindered by an inefficient first half and a complete defensive letdown in the third quarter, Princeton (23-10 overall) failed to achieve its goal of an Eastern Championship, losing right out of the starting gate against Queens, 12-11. While able to salvage some pride by beating Johns Hopkins and Harvard — 15-15 and 7-6, respectively — to finish fifth overall, it was a far cry from what the Tigers had hoped for.

"It was a disappointing way to end the season," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "We just simply didn't play to our expectations."

Slow start

It didn't look good for the Tigers from the very beginning. The Knights bolted out to a 3-0 advantage early following some classic ball-handling mistakes by Princeton. The Tigers battled back to tie it, 3-3, but the seeds of their eventual destruction were already sown.

"We weren't meshing well defensively," Nicolao said. "On the offensive end, we did what had hurt us all year. We did well on the hard part by setting up the plays, but messed up the easy part of putting the ball in the net."

Plagued by missed opportunities the entire game and unable to contain the Queens attack, the Tigers were never able to take the lead. The Knights' counter-attack took over, capitalizing on steals and ball-handling mistakes over and over again. While Princeton managed to keep the game relatively close in the first half, Queens eventually blew it open in a three-minute sequence in the third, during which it scored four unanswered goals, finishing out the quarter with an 11-7 lead.

"Basically, it wasn't just one thing wrong with our defense [or our offense]. We just couldn't work together as a team," Orozco said. "They were just on and we were off."

Down four, the Tigers mounted a rally. The offense kept its turnovers down, junior goalkeeper Jon Pharris came up with solid saves in net and the defense tightened, allowing only one goal in the quarter. Clutch goal-scoring from senior captain and driver Chris Gratian and sophomore two-meter Rob Urquhart – who tallied three goals each – kept the hope of a miracle comeback alive.

Fat lady

However, when that ejection whistle blew, that one fourth-quarter goal let up by the defense became the deciding factor and abruptly ended the Tigers' title run.

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Anxious to redeem itself the following day, Princeton played a solid match against Johns Hopkins, winning easily, 15-5. Buoyed by the impressive three-goal performance of senior two-meter Drew Jones, the Tigers were able to perfect the game plan that had eluded them in the previous match. Princeton followed this victory with a 7-6 win over Ivy rival Harvard. Contrary to what the final score may suggest, the Tigers thoroughly outplayed the Crimson, led by the tremendous play of sophomore two-meter Kevin Foster. Foster had five of the team's seven goals, including the game-winner near the end of regulation.

"We're a team that doesn't give up," Orozco said. "It's one thing that has defined our team since I've been here and it's something to be proud of."

"In the four years of this senior class, they have come a long way," said Nicolao, reflecting upon the program's progress in recent history. "They started out not even qualifying for Easterns in their freshmen year to making the finals of Southerns for the past two years. This class is primarily responsible for bringing Princeton water polo into the spotlight and has set the groundwork for [Princeton] to be a very competitive force in the coming years."