M. water polo 2-1 at Princeton Invitational

The men's water polo team has shown this weekend that it has all the pieces it needs for an outstanding season.

Led by senior co-captains Robert Urquhart and Kevin Foster, the Tigers registered a 15-8 win over U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and an 11-7 win over Air Force, but suffered a 13-9 loss to St. Francis in the Princeton Invitational held at DeNunzio Pool last weekend.

Last season, which was touted as a rebuilding year, the Tigers compiled an impressive 18-7 record, but fell short at the Eastern Championships with a sixth-place finish.

Since then, the team's most significant loss was the graduation of goalie Jon Pharris, who was honored as last season's Southern Division MVP. Now, the strength of the team will lie primarily on Urquhart and Foster, who both received first-team Southern Division honors last season, in addition to All-East honors.

One surprising strength that the team displayed this weekend was the performance of the freshmen, particularly two meter defenseman Jamal Motlagh, driver John Stover, and goalie Gant Morgner.

"We're excited about the way the people who we haven't seen yet played pretty well," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "It was great to see them progress as the weekend went along in the different game form. They really showed that they could play at this level."

In the opening game against Merchant Marine, Urquhart recorded two goals as the Tigers quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. Merchant Marine managed to score first in the second quarter, but fell victim to another Tiger onslaught, which was capped by junior driver Derrick Wong's goal with five seconds left in the half.

Urquhart finished the game with four goals, while sophomore two meter Michael Murray tallied three as the Tigers went on to win, 15-8. Morgner manned the net impressively in his Princeton debut.

The Tigers then went on to play against St. Francis, a more formidable opponent that did not lose a single game during the Princeton Invitational.

Princeton held things close during the first quarter, but could not recover from four straight St. Francis goals in the second quarter. Urquhart scored three times in the match, while Motlagh and Stover both tallied two goals in the 13-9 loss.

"They played a little physical." Foster said. "We didn't match their physicality right away. They were a more experienced team, but we matched up with them pretty well, with the exception of the second quarter."

The loss was quickly forgotten as the Tigers looked toward their next match against Air Force.

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In the first quarter, the Tigers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, before Air Force came back with a goal that was just to the right of sophomore goalie Peter Sabbatini's reach. Urquhart answered with a goal of his own, but Air Force scored two more goals to tie the game at 3-3 by the end of the first quarter.

Princeton again went to work in the second quarter, with goals from Murray and Stover. But despite a few saves from Sabbatini, and a steal from sophomore two meter defenseman D.J. Halliday, Air Force sunk a skip shot to the upper right corner of the Princeton goal, making the score 5-4 at the half.

Both the Tigers and Air Force scored two goals in the third quarter, upping the score to 7-6 with one quarter left to play.

In the fourth quarter, Wong, junior defenseman Dan Holligan, senior driver Chris Armato, and Foster all scored consecutive goals. Meanwhile, the defense stepped up and did not allow Air Force to respond with any goals of their own, as the Tigers went on to win 11-6.

"I'm excited that we have a really good defense," Coach Nicolao said, "and that's going to help us down the stretch."

With the impressive showing from the freshmen, and the continued solid play from Urquhart and Foster, the Tigers should look forward to another great season. They play Johns Hopkins this Friday.