W. water polo takes fourth at Eastern Championships

A 5-4 upset of top-seeded University of Michigan by fifth-seeded Brown (18-8) in the semifinals of the Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship resulted in third-seeded Princeton (22-7) playing the Wolverines for third place.

After a loss to Indiana, instead of meeting fifth-seeded Brown or even fourth-seeded Hartwick, the Tigers found themselves playing the team favored to win the whole championship, Michigan.

"[Michigan's] main problem was they didn't take [its first game against Brown] seriously," freshman defender Megan Donahue said. "They came in expecting to win and were surprised Brown played so well."

Michigan, ranked ninth in the nation, was not expecting to have any difficulty defeating the Bears. To be beaten by a team eight spots lower had to rankle the team that was rumored to have already bought its tickets to California where the winner of Easterns would go to compete in the Final Four. The Wolverines went last year and were expecting to go again this year.

"They made the mistake of looking past Brown," sophomore goalie Madeline McCarthy said. "[That's] really cocky."

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Wolverines did not make the same mistake with them when the two teams played for the first time on Sunday.

Princeton led the game through the entire first half, utilizing balanced shooting and solid defense. At the half, the score stood at 5-3. The five goals were split between four players.

Senior co-captain two-meter attack Adele McCarthy-Beauvais scored two. Senior co-captain two-meter defender Jenny Edwards, Donahue and sophomore two-meter Kathryn Parolin all scored one apiece as well.

Unfortunately, despite a weekend full of errors, Michigan chose the second half of this game to play like the ninth-ranked team in the country and rallied back to win, 9-5.

The Tigers faced up against Harvard (11-15) on Friday, winning 11-6. The Crimson were without their best player, Teresa Codini, as a result of a finger injury but managed to come out sixth in the tournament.

After Harvard, Princeton went up against Indiana (26-9) for the right to play in the finals. The last time the Tigers and Hoosiers met up was the championship game of the CWPA Southern Championship last season.

Both teams were apprehensive because it was the first time Princeton and Indiana have faced each other this season. Due in large part to poor shots and rushing their man-up opportunities, the Tigers fell in that match-up, 7-4.

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The Tigers were not allowed to succumb to the the same mistakes this time.

Princeton kept the score close the first two quarters. After two goals by Kristin Stanford early in the first quarter, the Tigers' defense dug in and held fast for nearly the remainder of the game.

The score stayed at 2-0 until the fourth quarter when the Hoosiers put three more in the back of the net, one in the last few seconds of the game. Edwards scored Princeton's lone goal to put the Tigers on the board and end the game, 5-1. This weekend, despite the final scores, the Tigers proved how well they can play when they set their minds to it.

"Our shots didn't go in," McCarthy said. "It happens, [but] it sucks that it happened this weekend. We made [Indiana's goalie] look a lot better than she actually was."

Indiana went on to defeat Brown in the championship game to earn the right to go to the Final Four in La Jolla, Calif, the first time ever for the Hoosiers in their six-year history. McCarthy-Beauvais and Edwards were both named First Team All-South. Also, Donahue was awarded League Rookie of the Year. This is the first year that award has been given out.

The Tigers did not earn the championship they were looking for, but they have had an incredible season. From defeating 10th ranked UC San Diego, its highest ranked victory yet, to winning its third ECAC Championship in four years, Princeton had a very successful season against elite competition.