Women's water polo concluded its season with a No. 6 finish at the three-day Eastern Championships in Lewisberg, Pa. this weekend. The team opened the tournament with a win over Villanova before it dropped the next one to Brown, ending its chances of an NCAA berth. The Tigers closed out their season with two final games, a win against Bucknell and a loss to the Crimson (22-11 overall) on Sunday.
Princeton (24-9) started out the weekend seeded fifth behind Michigan, Indiana, Hartwick and Brown. The Tigers' only four losses on the East Coast have been at the hands of these four teams.
Princeton was on a four-game winning streak after winning the Southern Division Championships of the Collegiate Water Polo Association and had won 10 of its last 11 games. The Tigers were looking forward to the weekend, as the winner would determine who would go on to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament at Stanford on May 8.
Princeton started out the weekend with a win over Villanova, its fourth against the Wildcats since the season began. In the previous three bouts, the Tigers won in blowouts, scoring between 13 and 15 points and limiting Villanova to between five and eight.
This game saw little change, as Princeton crushed its competition, 12-4. Freshman utility Elyse Colgan led the team in scoring with four goals, scoring two in the first quarter to contribute to a 4-3 lead after the opening frame. Three first-half goals by freshman driver Jazmin Brown helped give the Tigers a 7-4 lead at the half. Freshman driver Jessica Ajoux also placed three in the back of the Wildcats' net over the course of the game to boost Princeton past Villanova.
Shutouts in the second and third quarters by junior goaltender Madeline McCarthy and freshman goalie Shannon DeVore allowed the Tigers to exploit the porous Wildcats' defense for a 12-4 finish and let them advance to the second round against Brown the following day.
The next day, Princeton saw its NCAA hopes come to an end when the Tigers fell to the Bears, 8-3. Despite a competitive first half, Brown used balanced scoring and the Ivy League Championship Most Valuable Player to great effect.
Jazmin Brown won the opening sprint in the first quarter, but Princeton was only able to get one shot past Colgan during a six-on-five opportunity, giving Brown a 3-1 advantage going into the second quarter.
The Tigers came out in the second quarter with purpose. Jazmin Brown again won the opening sprint and took it all the way to the goal to bring Princeton within one. Another goal by freshman driver Danielle Carlson put the Tigers down, 4-3, at halftime but not out of the game.
Brown (18-8), however, was not to be stopped. The Bears' defense, led by 12 saves from Keira Heggie, plugged up Princeton's offense for the remainder of the game, and Brown's offense put in four more goals of its own to end with a final score of 8-3. The Bears went on to lose to Michigan, 4-3, despite 10 saves by Heggie.
The loss pitted the Tigers against their host Bucknell (16-18), whom they rolled over easily, 9-4.
Two first-quarter goals by sophomore Megan Donahue paved the way for more Princeton goals throughout the game. The Bisons didn't get their first score until the second half and five Tiger points had already entered the books.
Bucknell's four goals were a lethargic response to the tide of Princeton goals as the Bisons fell, 9-4.
That win positioned the Tigers opposite Harvard for the battle for No. 5. The Crimson came in as the 10th seed, but upsets over Iona and George Washington before its battle with Princeton foreshadowed the 6-2 defeat the Tigers would suffer in their last game of the season.
Colgan scored the Tigers' only two goals in their loss to the Crimson.
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