Men's water polo's California Dreaming has mixed results

The men's water polo team spent the weekend in sunny California, but the trip was by no means an easy vacation to the beach. Over three days, Princeton faced five top 20 teams, holding its own against some of California's best.

The time on the coast "provided a chance to improve our level of play against some of the country's top teams," Coach Luis Nicolao said. "It was a very successful trip."

Currently ranked 14th in the country, the Tigers finished the trip with two wins and three losses, pushing their season record to 10-5. In each of the three losses, however, the Tigers were tied at some point during the fourth quarter and had a chance to win the game.

The trip started on Friday, with a 9-6 loss at #11 U.C. San Diego. Senior Kevin Foster scored three goals for Princeton and senior Robert Urquhart added two more. Unfortunately, the Tigers suffered a costly setback during the game, when junior Dan McKenna tore cartilage in his knee. McKenna, one of the team's best players, will be out of action for about six weeks.

The final four games of the trip were part of the Nor-Cal Tournament. Sixteen teams competed, with only Princeton and Harvard making the trip from the East Coast. Traditionally, collegiate water polo has been dominated by Californian teams. In fact, no East Coast team has ever beat a West Coast team ranked in the top 4.

Saturday morning, in the first game of the tournament, Princeton faced off against #7 UCLA. Despite the absence of McKenna and senior Chris Armato (who was forced to sit out due to a penalty), the Tigers played their best game of the year. Princeton jumped to an early 4-2 lead and kept the pressure on the Bruins the entire game.

Though Princeton eventually lost 11-9, the score was knotted with less than 2 minutes remaining. UCLA registered the go-ahead goal with 1:38 remaining and tacked on another late score as the Tigers failed in a last-ditch attempt to regain possession. UCLA would go on to win the entire tournament, making the Tiger's performance particularly impressive.

"We played them as well as anyone," Coach Nicolao said.

Sophomore goalie Peter Sabbatini, whose play was outstanding throughout the entire tournament, made 15 saves against UCLA. "[Sabbatini] had an incredible weekend," Nicolao said. "He allowed us to stay close in every game."

Princeton rebounded with a 14-4 spanking of #19 U.C. Davis. Freshman John Stover scored four goals and Rob Urquhart added three more for the Tigers.

Sunday morning, Princeton faced #9 Long Beach State. After entering the fourth quarter tied at six, Long Beach pulled away for a 10-7 win.

A failure to take control of close games in the fourth quarter plagued the Tigers in each of their losses.

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"We needed to find a way to get a go-ahead goal," Nicolao said. "We need to improve our finishing. We missed some golden offensive opportunities."

In its final game of the tournament, Princeton soundly defeated #12 U.C. Santa Barbara, 12-6. With the win, the Tigers claimed 11th place in the tournament. The showing placed them ahead of Harvard, who finished in 13th.

Princeton will have almost two weeks off before traveling to Grove City, Pennsylvania for the League Crossover Weekend Tournament.

"Our goal is to be in the finals against Navy," Nicalo said.

Nicalao praised the team's overall effort for the weekend.

"It was a great team effort. Different guys stepped up every game. [We built] lots of confidence and depth from the games. It was a very rewarding weekend."