Men's water polo loses brutal match to Navy in CWPA weekend action

A child could have seen it coming. In a championship match filled with frustration, tension, and officiating that had both head coaches in a frenzy for the duration of the game, what more appropriate culmination could there be than a water fight?

With 4 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in a 9-8 loss to Navy in the championship game of the CWPA Crossover Weekend at DeNunzio Pool yesterday, Princeton senior driver Robert Urquhart scored a goal to pull his team within two goals when a fight broke out near the Navy net.

Whistles went wild as the Tigers (11-4 overall, 6-1 CWPA) and Midshipmen (11-3 overall) flailed at each other mercilessly, the emotions from a tightly-played game finally spilling over.

"It was building," Princeton head coach Luis Nicolao saidd, referring to the rising tempers. "There's a rivalry there, just two big teams going at it."

The dust cleared, and Urquhart was ejected for allegedly throwing the punches that fueled the brawl. Navy was awarded two penalty shots, only one of which it was able to capitalize on. The sixteenth-ranked Tigers scored on an ensuing penalty shot of their own, making the score 8-6 in favor of the Midshipmen after the melee.

The teams traded goals before Princeton freshman two-meter Michael Murray scored with twenty seconds remaining to get within one goal at 9-8. Navy killed the clock, however, and emerged with a first place finish in the tournament.

"We gave them too many chances in the first half," Nicolao said. "We let them get out on us early. They played hard, but we just didn't play well."

Princeton defeated Grove City (7-16 overall) 12-1 in the first round and Bucknell (7-13 overall) 11-4 in the second round before reaching the final. From the onset of Sunday's game, however, the Tigers were clearly not in the comfort zone they enjoyed during the weekend's first two games. It took only a minute for Urquhart to score for the Tigers, but the lead would be short-lived. Navy tied it with a goal late in the first by senior Brendan Naeve, then grabbed the lead halfway through the second on a goal by sophomore Joe Donahue.

The Tigers evened the score on a goal from senior captain Marshall Roslyn before Navy pulled ahead 3-2 in the final minute of the first half.

That lead would hold.

Navy went up 5-3 halfway into the third quarter and never trailed again, trading goals for the rest of the contest and emerging with the win.

"We know playing Navy is always going to be a tough one," Nicolao said. "We'd also like to win the game, but we'll take it and try to get better from here."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Roslyn led all scorers with four for Princeton. Urquhart added three and Murray one.

In the Grove City game, junior two-meter Kevin Foster registered the first goal for Princeton before Grove City sophomore Matt Gibson tied the score at 1-1 with just over a minute elapsed. By the end of the quarter, however, the game was decided. Princeton scored the next six goals to take a 7-1 lead that ballooned to 12-1 at the half.

Nine different Princetonians participated in the scoring.

The Tigers advanced to play Bucknell on Saturday, another runaway victory waiting to happen. Urquhart, who didn't factor in the scoring against Grove City, took the spotlight by scoring four goals in an 11-4 victory over the Bison. Foster added three goals to the fray, and Roslyn, sophomore driver Dan McKenna, and freshman driver Scott Zawilski each scored once. Princeton had a commanding 6-0 lead at halftime before cruising to the seven-goal win.

Next up for the Tigers is the ECAC Tournament this weekend. After that, the Southern Championships begin November 2 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.