Women's water polo takes four wins, ECACs

Women's water polo is on the road to the NCAA Final Four. This weekend, Princeton began the first leg of its journey by defeating Iona (12-3), Brown (11-6), Harvard (8-12) and Hartwick (16-9) to become the Eastern College Athletic Conference champions for the third time in four years.

After two wins Saturday and one win Sunday morning, the Tigers found themselves in the finals of the tournament, set to face Hartwick.

It was more than a battle for the ECAC championship, a title which is certainly important in its own right. The game had added weight because its outcome would affect rankings for the upcoming Eastern Championships.

Led by senior two-meter Adele McCarthy-Beauvais, who had four goals, the Tigers fought with the ferocity of their namesake and gained a 10-8 victory over the Hawks. Freshman defender Megan Donahue scored twice, and senior two-meter Jenny Edwards and sophomore defender Kelly Melia-Teevan each scored once. junior driver Annie Olson and sophomore two-meter Kathryn Parolin scored the final two goals to ensure Princeton's win and the ECAC crown.

With the score knotted at 6-6 after the first half of play, the Tigers gained a one goal lead, 8-7, by the end of the third quarter off two goals from McCarthy-Beauvais. Princeton then jumped to a 9-7 lead in the fourth, and had the game under control. While still up two, the Tigers were called for a penalty and Princeton's goalie, sophomore Madeline McCarthy, was taken out of the game.

When asked about the call, one player dismissed it by saying, "The referee has been doing this all season." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "He's from Harvard," as if that explained everything.

Hartwick was able to capitalize on this penalty shot to bring the game to within one goal with only one minute and 22 seconds on the clock. But that would be as close as they would get. Princeton'a sophomore two meter Kathryn Parolin placed a goal in Hartwick's net to score the last point that would be made in the game, making the final score 10-8.

Sweet revenge

"[The Hawks] knocked us out of ECACs and Easterns last year, so it was a real sweet victory to take revenge on them," McCarthy said.

"This win is a good first step to our ultimate goal for us to go to the NCAA," senior defender Melinda Martin added. "One down, two to go on our quest for the triple crown."

The road to Sunday's finals was not an especially easy one for Princeton.

Saturday morning the Tigers faced Iona College. The Gaels, despite holding a record nearly as intimidating as Princeton's own, have not played against the toughest of opponents. They proved to be little trouble as the Tigers defeated them, 7-2. Donahue led the team in scoring with two goals bringing her total to 20 for the season.

"It was the game for us to get all our kinks out," McCarthy-Beauvais said.

The biggest concern for Princeton, though, was later on that day when the Tigers took on Brown. The Bears recently won the New England Region Tournament of the Northern Division Collegiate Water Polo Association, and despite having already lost to Princeton once this year during the regular season, the Bears were not going to go down easily. This weekend, it seemed to be the same story. At the half, the Bears were up, 7-4, but the Tigers had a fire lit under their tails and came back to win, 8-7, with forty seconds remaining on the clock.

Edwards led the team in scoring with three goals, one of them the game winning shot assisted by Olson. McCarthy-Beauvais, Olson, Melia-Teevan and Donahue and fellow freshman defender Anne-Lise Maag all also scored to help give Princeton its.

"We're so deep," McCarthy–Beauvais said. "We had a lot of sophomores and freshmen that stepped up. We couldn't have won if they hadn't."

On Sunday, Princeton went up against Harvard in the morning before the championship game in the afternoon. Hartwick didn't have any problem polishing off Brown, and Princeton dispatched Harvard with equal ease, 10-7. With the victory, the Tigers have earned the ECAC title for the third time, gotten revenge on the team that eliminated them from ECACs and Easterns last year and helped their chances at going to the Final Four with a better seeding at Easterns.

Princeton, at No. 13 in the national ranking, and Hartwick, at No. 16, will not see each other for two more weeks until the Eastern Collegiate Water Polo Association championship.

The Tigers are in the Southern Division of the College Water Polo Association while Hartwick is in the Northern; thus, the results of the championship game will be a huge factor in determining the seeding at Easterns which will determine who goes to San Diego for the Final Four.