Pharris leads men's water polo to win at Princeton Invite

Last season, the men's water polo team compiled a 24-10 record, reached the finals of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, won the Collegiate Water Polo division, and had its first-ever third-team All-American in junior Kevin Foster.

Since then, though, the team has lost half of its starters to graduation — four of whom started each of their four years at Princeton. Thus, one could say it will be a rebuilding year.

Even with the losses, the team has somehow managed to accumulate a 3-0 record thus far in the season with wins over Queens, Johns Hopkins, and St. Francis in this weekend's Princeton Invitational at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool.

This season may indeed turn out to be a "rebuilding year", but Princeton teams have often found ways to turn so-called rebuilding seasons into very successful campaigns. If last weekend's success is any indicator, then the men's water polo team might be able to do the same.

"Losing the six seniors will certainly hurt us and hurt the depth and experience," senior co-captain John Pharris said. "Still, though, we have a good core to rely on."

The losses will be felt most at attack, where a weak depth chart may create situations in which opposing defenses will be able to double up on Foster to greatly hinder the Tiger attack.

If the offense can find ways to free up Foster in front of the goal so that he may net a few goals a game, though, the back line should be able to handle the opposing attack.

"It will be important to free up Foster," senior co-captain two meter Marshall Roslyn said. "He's definitely one of the best attackmen on the east coast."

The mainstays in the defense will continue to be senior goalie Jon Pharris, Roslyn and sophomore D.J. Halliday. For the Tigers to be able to be a threat in the ECAC's this year, the defense will have to step up and control each game this season. The initial three games are a good indicator for Princeton that the defense just might be able to do that.

The first contest of the season was a 10-4 triumph against Queens Saturday Sept. 8. The Tigers were able to control the weaker Knight attack and mount offensive after offensive of their own, enabling junior attack Robert Urquhart to score the game-leading four goals, senior co-captain Marshall Roslyn three goals, and Foster two.

Later in the afternoon, the Tigers confronted rival Johns Hopkins in a rematch of last year's Southern Championships semifinals and emerged with an 11-6 victory. With both Princeton's attack and defense playing poorly, the game was tied at halftime. That was before Roslyn and Foster unleashed their fury upon the visiting Knights, amounting a combined total of eight goals. In the net, Pharris remained strong, giving up just one goal in the second half and coming away from the game with 15 saves.

On Sunday, the Tigers played their third and final game of the Invitational against the Terriers of St. Francis. Both teams were 2-0 against their previous two mutual opponents, and were ready to fight it out for the title of the invitational's finest team.

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The game started with Urquhart and sophomore attacks B.J. Holliday and Chris Armato each scoring a goal to build a 3-0 lead. The Terriers later narrowed the margin to one, but the Tigers built a four-goal lead going into the fourth and final quarter. The St. Francis comeback was not over at this point, though, as it mounted a rally and narrowed the gap to a single goal. At this point, Pharris rallied the defense once again by making 7 saves in the final quarter to preserve the Princeton victory.

"We changed our defense around going into that final quarter," Roslyn said. "They had a couple very good outside shots due to the change to come back. We then adjusted and the only goal they got after that was on a breakaway."

With three victories under their belts, the Tigers will now travel to California to face teams on the traditionally stronger west coast, where they will compete in the Loyola Marymount University Invitational. On Friday, they will face-off against University of California – Los Angeles and University of California–Irvine, the squad will face University of California–Davis as well as Loyola Marymount University on Saturday, and on Sunday, the Tigers will face California Baptist to close off the invitational.