Women's water polo hosts ECAC Championships this weekend

Women's water polo hosts the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship this Saturday and Sunday at Denunzio Pool. If they keep their concentration against mystery foe Hartwick (14-8), the Tigers (13-4) should have no problem bringing back their fourth ECAC championship.

The ECAC is divided into two brackets of three teams each. Princeton is the second seed in the tournament behind Hartwick, which is surprising because the Tigers have fared better aganst many of their common opponents. For example, the Tigers beat University of California in San Diego while Hartwick lost.

Despite the unexpected seedings, Princeton's plan to win the championship remains unchanged.

"We were a little surprised by being seeded second, but it will motivate us more for this weekend," sophomore driver Julie Miller said. "Hartwick is definitely a talented team, but we are confident and look forward to playing them this weekend. It will be a challenge and a very good game."

Mystery foe

Thus far, the Tigers have not played the Hawks, who are coming off winning their third straight CWPA championship in the New York Region. The final match will most likely come down between Hartwick and Princeton. If the Tigers do not defeat the Hawks here, they may have a rematch at the Eastern championship two weeks from now. This weekend's match-up will determine the seeding for Easterns, where Hartwick, Harvard and Brown will all be in the Northern Division championships and Princeton will be in the Southern. The winner of Easterns goes to the NCAA Final Four.

Although the ECAC is certainly important in its own right, the reward of having a better seed at Easterns two weeks from now and a shot at the Final Four is definitely something to keep in mind.

"We lost two very close games to [Hartwick] last year, including the game which ended our NCAA hopes at Easterns," senior defender Melinda Martin said. "All the upperclassmen remember this defeat and I'm sure this will only add to the intensity of the game and the desire to win."

Step by step

The Tigers are taking it one game at a time, however. Princeton's first opponent, Iona College (12-1), has won its last 12 regular season games and came in second in the New York Region of the Northern Division. The Gaels' only regular season loss was to Hartwick. But despite how good they look on paper, the Gaels have not played against stellar competition — with the exception of Hartwick — and should not prove to be much of a challenge for the Tigers.

Brown (10-4), however, is a differnt story. The Bears won the New England Region of the Northern Division CWPA tournament. When Princeton played Brown at the beginning of the year, the Tigers were down, 4-1, at the half but managed to pick it up in the second half to take a 6-5 win.

Princeton will have to play hard to make sure that the Bears don't get that far ahead this time. Losing to them will mean the Tigers will have a more difficult chance at the title. The second ranked team in each bracket plays the winner of the other. A loss to Brown would mean having to play the Hawks early simply to qualify for the final round.

Hartwick will face Harvard first on Saturday. They should be little trouble for the Hawks. The Crimson lost to Bucknell once and to Brown twice this season, and to put it bluntly, Bucknell is not they type of team that a team should lose to if it wants to beat Hartwick. The Hawks have faced far more talented teams and come out vitorious.

The Bucknell Bisons (11-10) will be the second team the Hawks will face. They have already tasted defeat against Princeton twice this season. They lost the first one, 20-5. The Bisons lost the second time just last Sunday, 11-2, to the Tigers. They, like Princeton, have not faced Hartwick this year.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Princeton has a tough weekend but victory is feasible. Because the Tigers have already beaten a team that defeated their biggest adversary, all Princeton has to do is play the game it knows it can.

When asked who she was most apprehensive about facing at the ECACs, senior co-captain and two meter defender Jenny Edwards replied, "Quite the contrary. I'm really looking forward to playing some tough competition within our league. With something on the line, it always makes games more intense and so much more rewarding when we win.