Frosh expected to make immediate contribution to team

Freshmen are often considered the bottom rung of the social hierarchy. They can, however, occasionally serve a useful purpose.

The women's water polo team hopes that freshmen can be the difference this year in its goal of winning the Eastern Championships.

The Tigers came ever so close to the title last season, but were thwarted by Brown in a 11-10 sudden-death double-overtime match in the finals of the Eastern Championships.

The Tigers will rely on the play of seven freshmen to try and fill the void left by departing seniors and also to patch up the few holes in the team from last season.

Freshmen two-meter Kathyrn Parolin and Mariah Zebrowski and also defender Julie Garton are just a few who will be counted on to adapt quickly to the college game.

"Jules brings speed to our counter and Kathryn and Mariah will help Adele [McCarthy-Beauvais] out in set," junior defender Jenny Edwards said. "The freshmen have added a lot more depth to the team, in terms of hole sets, perimeter shooters and counter-attack speed."

Junior two-meter McCarthy-Beauvais was the leading scorer on the squad last season, with 83 goals. In two years at Princeton she has already broken the school career scoring mark with 176 goals. The previous had been held by Katherine Kixmiller '01, who had 159 over her four-year career. She has already established herself as one of the greatest offensive players in the history of Princeton women's water polo. McCarthy-Beauvais was the only player from a school not in California to receive All-America honors last season.

The Tigers' biggest matches of the year will be at the Southern Championships and the Eastern Championships in April. They will be going for their third straight Southern Championship and will hope to avenge last year's loss to Brown in the finals of the Eastern Championship. Princeton is also the three-time defending Eastern College Athletic Conference champion.

The main challenge that the Tigers will face will be early in the season. With the addition of so many freshmen, the team will take time to adjust to each other's playing style.

"Our weakness right now would be the fact that we are not used to playing together quite yet. The games this weekend will be our first games of the season, so we might be a little rusty," said Edwards.

Princeton will counter this problem using its two greatest assets, its exceptional depth at all positions and also its explosive offensive attack.

The Tigers have great depth at all positions, from two-meter to goalie. Equally important is the balance of youth and experience that the Tigers have assembled. Since the team graduated only two starting seniors last year and have only one senior this year, many of the younger players have already gotten a great deal of playing time.

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"Our team has a lot of experience and a lot of depth and those key factors are really going to help us out this year," said Edwards.

The Tigers' powerful offense is led by the play of the two-meter positions. McCarthy-Beauvais will anchor the team, but she will be joined by sophomore Alexis Olle, Edwards, and of course freshmen Parolin and Zebrowski. Overall, Princeton has one of the best two-meter teams in the East.

"Our two-meter game dominates the East as well as outside shooting and with that combination, we can be unstoppable," said Edwards. "We also have an incredible left-hander, Cassie, which is invaluable."

It is clear that this team has the potential to achieve its goal of an Eastern Championship. There are, though, a number of talented teams standing in the way.

These include perennial powerhouses Indiana, Michigan and Brown.

With talent, determination and the will to avenge last year's heart-breaking loss, the Tigers are primed for this upcoming season. While they have experience and depth, it may be the new crop of freshmen that takes them to the promised land.