W. water polo takes on GW, Maryland in league play

Women's water polo concludes its first round of conference play with two away games this weekend.

On Saturday, Princeton (6-3) will be in Washington D.C. to take on George Washington (4-5) for the second time this season, and on Sunday it will play Maryland (0-0) in College Park, Md. After these match-ups, the Tigers will have played every team in the Southern Division of the College Water Polo Association.

Princeton is No. 5 in the CWPA Division I poll and No. 19 in the country, the only Southern Division team to be in the top 20 in the national rankings. Princeton is in the Southern Division along with Bucknell, George Washington, Maryland and Villanova.

The Tigers have defeated Bucknell and Villanova thus far, with scores of 11-5 and 15-5, respectively. Wins this weekend will complete the sweep of their conference opponents.

George Washington is tied for No. 8 with Bucknell. Princeton's three losses have come to CWPA No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Indiana and No. 4 Hartwick College.

Maryland had its first game of the season last night against George Washington and plays Villanova and Bucknell along with Princeton on Sunday.

The Tigers have played the Colonials once already this year at the Princeton Invitational, defeating them 13-3. But the outcome was far from certain.

"It was the last game of the tournament, so we weren't playing as well as we should have," freshman goalie Shannon DeVore said. "We were tied at the half and beat in the first quarter."

Still, Princeton managed to turn it around, and the crowd saw a different team emerge in the third quarter. Tied at three, the Tigers rallied and put in 10 goals in the next two quarters and held the Colonials to none in the same span to cruise to the victory.

Princeton should have little trouble defeating George Washington come Sunday, so long as it plays like it did in the successful second half of the previous game and not the less-impressive first half.

Against Maryland, the Tigers should be able to breathe even easier. While not a pushover, Maryland's youth does stack up rather weakly against Princeton's experience and skill. The Terrapins enter the 2004 season as a varsity sport for the very first time in their university's history.

Maryland has, however, participated as a club sport since 1986 and finished No. 9 in the country in 1998, producing two All-Americans that year.

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

Seven players — five seniors and two sophomores — return to Maryland's lineup from the club team to the new varsity squad, ensuring that the Terrapins have some skill to match up with Princeton.

The Tigers lost two All-Americans from last season — Jenny Edwards '03 and Adele McCarthy-Beauvais '03 — but are handling the transition well.

Thus far, Princeton has revealed great depth in its freshman class. During the game against George Washington, eight different players scored; four of them were freshmen. In fact, freshman driver Danielle Carlson scored five of the Tigers' 13 goals that night.

"This weekend will give us a lot of playing time," freshman utility Elyse Colgan said. "That'll be good for the team, since our main focus is on Spring Break."

The upcoming games against George Washington and Maryland come right before the Tigers' important Spring Break trip to sunny California, where it will play seven quality teams in five days: No. 15 UC-San Diego, No. 2 UCLA, Pacific, No. 5 San Diego St., No. 20 Cal Baptist, and Division III's No. 2 Redlands.