Women's water polo to face tough competition at Southerns

Coming off its victory at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships last weekend, the women's water polo team hits the road this weekend to compete in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division Championships.

The tournament will commence Friday at Bucknell Universiy in Lewisburg, Pa. The Southern Division consists of 13 teams divided into four brackets (A, B, C, D). Princeton, seeded 2nd, is joined with 7th seed Gannon University (13-5) and 11th seed Penn St.-Behrend (5-15) to make up Bracket C.

The top five teams in the Southern Division will join the top five teams in the Northern Division and two at-large selections to participate in Eastern Championships two weeks from now on April 25 in Boston, Mass. The winner of the Eastern Championships will then go on to take part in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships on May 10 at the University of California-San Diego in La Jolla, CA.

The Tigers should have little difficulty defeating both Gannon and Penn State-Behrend to win their bracket. The game Princeton is concentrating on right now is the one against Indiana University (20-8).

At last year's CWPA Southern Championships, the Tigers were able to make it past the Hoosiers to advance to the finals where they fell to Michigan State. Later at Eastern Championships, however, Princeton lost to Indiana, 11-10.

This year, the Hoosiers will provide stiff competition, as Indiana has some lethal players. Senior two-meter Kristin Stanford of the Hoosiers and sophomore goalie Jessica Goldner will give the Tigers plenty to worry about.

Stanford is three goals shy of beating her own school record for the most goals in a season, which she set last year when she scored 66 goals. This year, she has 64 goals. Goldner had a career high of 17 saves several weeks ago, and has 368 saves for her career, 203 of them coming this season.

In contrast, the Tigers' top scorer for the season is senior two-meter Adele McCarthy-Beauvais with 35 goals, while sophomore goalie Madeline McCarthy has 72 saves so far this season. The statistics can be deceiving, however.

The Hoosiers will have to contest with Princeton's two best players, McCarthy-Beauvais and senior co-captain two-meter defender Jenny Edwards. Indiana's head coach Barry King acknowledged these two as "two of the best in the East." Last year alone, McCarthy-Beauvais and Edwards combined to score 17 of the Tigers' 30 goals in three games against the Hoosiers.

The Tigers are blessed this season with a very versatile group of players that are all able to score. Five Princeton players have more than 20 goals so far this season. What the Tigers will really be concentrating on, however, is their defense.

"Indiana's real strength is their lefties," Edwards said. "They have three or four left-handed players that really contribute offensively and make them a tough team to shut down. This weekend we will be focusing on our team defense. It's essential to beating Indiana."

After Indiana, Princeton will most likely play first-seeded Michigan St. (16-9). The Spartans, at No. 12, are ranked right above Princeton in the national poll. At last year's CWPA Southern Championships, Princeton made it to the final game against the Spartans. Rallying back from a 5-1 deficit in the first quarter, the Tigers were able to come as close as 8-7 at the half, but eventually fell, 10-9.

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The chance to play these two teams before heading into Easterns, the tournament which determines who goes to the Final Four, will be invaluable.

"Southerns will be crucial for getting experience playing both Indiana and Michigan," Edwards said. "We don't want to go into Easterns, with our season on the line, having never matched up against either team this year."