At 7-0, complacency the enemy for m. water polo

The men's water polo team had its most important victory of the season Saturday against Navy. The 7-6 overtime win was a step in the right direction, though much work remains to be done. The team plays in its first big tournament of the season, the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, this weekend, which will serve as another measuring stick for a team which seems to be firing on all cylinders.

The championship, held this year at Brown University in Providence, RI, brings together the elite water polo teams of the east coast.

Princeton matches up against Johns Hopkins on Friday night and then plays George Washington and Queens on Saturday. If all goes well, a rematch with Navy could be likely for Sunday.

Brown, Harvard, Iona, St. Francis, and Bucknell will also be present.

The Tigers have beaten both Johns Hopkins and Queens this season by large margins. Princeton defeated an undermanned Queens squad, 10-1, in its first game of the season, and defeated the Blue Jays, 16-8, last weekend.

Princeton was to play George Washington last weekend before the emergence of Hurricane Isabel forced that game's cancellation.

The Tigers' perfect record and success against the competition they'll face this weekend by no means guarantees that Princeton will coast into the finals. It might make their campaign more difficult.

"Going 7-0 to start off the year gives us a really good feeling for the rest of the season," junior driver Sean McIntire said. "But we're the team to beat now. Everyone will be gunning for us."

The competition they will face will be the toughest they've seen all season. Queens was without its three best players when Princeton dominated them, while the thrashing that the Tigers have handed out to Johns Hopkins and Queens gives the two squads even more of an incentive to come out firing.

'The key'

"The key is not becoming complacent," senior captain Dan McKenna, who plays two-meter, said. "We know the other teams are going to get better as the season rolls along, so we need to also get that much better to be able to keep playing at a high level."

The Tigers have worked on their conditioning this week in preparation for the championships while also focusing on improving their defense, which will need to be at its best in order to fend off Queens, offensively the most talented of Princeton's opponents. The Tigers have also been preparing for a possible rematch with the Midshipmen, practicing against Navy's 6-on-5 offensive strategy.

"The fact that we're focusing on defense is improving the game for us so much," McIntire said. "Now we're just working the defense, trying to get the best defense in the east."

International flavor

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Queens, whose roster is comprised of international players from as far as Eastern Europe, Australia, and Brazil, plays a slightly different brand of water polo than Princeton is accustomed to. The Knights attack early and try to build a lead, then clamp down on opponents and play a more defensive game.

"They're all really smart players, and if they're having a good day you can be in trouble." McIntire said. "But if you can get on them early they'll break down as a team."

Princeton had an easy time with the Knights in its first game because Queens lacked three of its starters. But fully equipped, Queens, who defeated the Tigers in the finals of last year's ECAC Championship, will be a more dynamic and explosive team this time around.

"The key is that we jump on them early and make sure they don't think that they can play with us," McKenna said.

George Washington and Johns Hopkins, Princeton's other opponents, are tenacious teams though far less talented than the Tigers are. As in its other game, Princeton's mental readiness will play just as significant a factor in these contests as its physical shape will.

"We have to keep playing hard," McIntire said. "After last weekend, coach [Luis Nicolao] said great weekend and then made us swim. We have to keep our focus and keep working hard because it will keep paying off."