Men's water polo will look for younger players to step up

The men's water polo team has started practice again, but one might suppose the girls on campus could have been able to tell you that. It would seem that the Tigers have been taking advantage of the glorious weather to take their training outdoors, much to the delight of female onlookers who have spotted them running around campus shirtless.

The team, which began practicing again last Thursday, is gearing up for the season and getting ready for this weekend's North/ South Invitational Tournament at DeNunzio Pool.

The Tigers will face stiff competition from the start when they square off against Queens on Friday at 7 p.m. Their last encounter was at the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament finals in 2002 where Princeton took second place after ceding a 10-5 victory to Queens.

The next day, the Tigers will face Harvard at 12:30 p.m. for what should be an evenly-matched game. The last time these two Ivy titans met, Princeton edged by with a 10-8 victory.

Sunday's match should be the least difficult of the tourney for the Tigers as they face Iona at 10:40 a.m.

"We expect to win every game," head coach Luis Nicolao said.

Nicolao's confidence remains strong in spite of this year's young roster. The fact that freshmen and sophomores comprise almost three quarters of the team make the Tigers' first few days of practice that much more crucial.

"We've been doing a lot of scrimmaging so [the players] can get used to each other," Nicolao said. "And so far I like what I see."

The Tigers finished last season 20-9 overall and 7-1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association. They earned fourth place at the CWPA Eastern Championships and second place at the CWPA Southern Divisional Championships.

This year the Tigers want it all — a great winning record and first place finishes at both Easterns and Southerns.

'Tough to replace'

There is no doubt that Princeton has its work cut out for it as the latest graduating class saw the departure of Kevin Foster '03 and Robert Urquhart '03, two big names in the Tiger lineup.

"It's going to be tough to replace them," admitted senior two-meter defender and co-captain D.J. Halliday, "but we have a lot of speed this year. I think we're going to look to that to help us win."

The Tigers will also have to do without the offensive skills of sophomore driver Sam Bliss, whose dislocated shoulder might require surgery and will more than likely keep him out of commission this season.

To Princeton's advantage, the freshmen, all nine of them, will bring fresh talent and energy to the bench.

In terms of positions, the rookies bring depth, not diversity. The bulk of the recruits are drivers.

"We certainly have a good class this year," Nicolao said.

Sophomore driver John Stover had a promising rookie season scoring and will definitely be a strong offensive force. For his performance last season, Stover earned second-team All-Southern Conference honors.

Great in goal

Also winning All-Southern honors last season was junior Peter Sabbatini, whose outstanding performance in goal earned him a spot on the Men's Junior National Water Polo Team this past summer.

The Tigers are in shape and looking forward to good things this year.

"We've worked hard all preseason," said senior two-meter and co-captain Dan McKenna. "We're all just ready to get out there and play."

The freshmen's potential and the strength of the team overall will be put to the test this weekend when the North/South Invitational gets underway in Princeton's own Denunzio Pool.