W. water polo upset in finals of Southern Division Tournament

One goal was all that kept the women's water polo team from winning the Southern Division Tournament at Villanova on Sunday.

After easily defeating Gannon 14-7, Mercyhurst 18-5 and George Washington 16-3 on Saturday, the No. 1-seeded Tigers went on to the finals the next day, only to be upset by Michigan, 10-9.

On Saturday, the Tiger offense dominated Gannon in the first half, recording nine goals in the second quarter to make the score 10-1 at the half. Gannon seemed to wake up in the second half and scored six goals, which wasn't enough as the Tigers finished with a 14-7 win. Sophomore Adele McCarthy-Beauvais and freshman Kelly-Melia Teevan both registered three goals in the match.

The Tigers then went on to face Mercyhurst in the second game, and again quickly jumped out in front during the first two quarters. The offense scored eight in the first quarter and six more in the second quarter as the defense allowed only four goals during the half. Freshman Kathryn Parolin scored four goals and sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Lister made 11 saves in the 18-5 Tiger victory.

The next game seemed to follow the same script as the first two. Junior Jennifer Edwards scored two goals in the first quarter, and one goal in the second as the Tigers found themselves with a 9-4 lead at the half. Parolin and McCarthy-Beauvais each scored three goals to help the Tigers finish off on top, 16-8. Freshman goalkeeper Madeline McCarthy picked up 8 saves in the first three quarters of the game, and Lister tacked on another 4 saves in the last quarter.

With these three wins, the Tigers finished their Saturday competition, and qualified to play Michigan for the Southern Division Champion-ship on Sunday. In their previous meeting, the Tigers barely defeated the Wolverines 17-16.

Michigan came out strong from the beginning, quickly opening up a 5-1 lead by the end of the first quarter.

"Unfortunately it took us one quarter to get our defense together," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "We made some mental mistakes that allowed Michigan to score on some easy chances."

Princeton woke up and fought back hard in the second quarter, scoring four out of the next five goals in the game, three of which were from senior utility player Cassandra Nichols.

Michigan answered by scoring the game's next two goals 25 seconds apart from each other. The Tigers then scored two more goals of their own, and found themselves trailing 8-7 at the half.

"Once we settled down, we were able to control them; we just missed on too many offensive chances," Nicolao said.

After the half, Michigan scored the first two goals, extending the lead to 10-7. Nichols responded with two goals for the Tigers, cutting the lead to 10-9, where it stayed through a scoreless fourth quarter despite a Princeton six-on-five opportunity. Nichols scored an impressive seven goals, while McCarthy registered 12 saves by the end of the game.

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Despite the loss, the Tigers' spirits remain high as they look forward to the Eastern Championships this weekend at Denunzio pool.

"What was so great about that game was how we as a team refused to give up," Nichols said. Michigan will be among the 12 teams competing in this weekend's tournament, and another matchup between Princeton and Michigan seems likely.

Coach Nicolao added, "I am excited about our chances this weekend. We all know that it is going to be difficult to win the whole thing but we are all looking forward to the challenge. I am confident that we will perform well."