Women's water polo wins Southerns

Women's water polo bulldozed its way through the Southern Championships at Villanova this weekend. The team edged out George Washington 7-6 in the finals on Sunday to secure the Southern Division title and most likely earn itself a higher seed at the Eastern Championships, which begin on April 23.

Princeton (22-7) has now played George Washington five times this season, winning all of the contests. Two of the first four wins were blowouts (15-5 and 14-3) while two others were much closer (9-5 and 7-6). Therefore, entering Sunday's match, Princeton was unsure about what kind of game to expect from the Colonials.

Sunday's match found the Tigers ahead of George Washington for much of the game, but Princeton was never able to comfortably pull away.

Freshman utility Elyse Colgan spearheaded the Tiger attack, scoring a game-high four goals. The teams entered the second quarter knotted at one. Thanks for Colgan's three goals in the quarter, Princeton went in at halftime with a 4-3 lead. The Tigers extended their lead to 7-5 at the end of the third quarter as Colgan and freshmen drivers Jessica Ajoux and Danielle Carlson scored the Tigers' second-stanza goals.

Princeton held on in the fourth as the Colonials scored one to make the final margin of victory, 7-6.

"It was pretty even the whole game," Colgan said. "We'd hoped to come out strong at the beginning."

To get to the championship game, Princeton had to make it past two other opponents. The Tigers' first game was a 13-8 win over No. 4-seed Villanova. Princeton had defeated the Wildcats in the team's first two encounters this season, but both games were held at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool. At first, it appeared as if Villanova's home-advantage might spark an upset.

"It was our first game of the weekend," Colgan said. "So we had kind of a slow start. Small, little things kept happening."

In prior games, the Tigers defeated the Wildcats, 15-5 and 14-8, building up early leads in the first quarter of each contest. After the first quarter, Princeton was up 7-1 in its first game and 4-0 in the other.

But on Saturday, the Wildcats were determined not spend the entire game digging their way out of an early deficit.

After the first quarter, despite goals from junior driver Kelly Melia-Teevan, sophomore driver Anne-Lise Maag and freshman Samantha Shaughnessy, Villanova stood toe-to-toe with Princeton at three-all. The Wildcats entrenched themselves in the second quarter, allowing only one goal from Colgan. They did not score themselves, however, and entered halftime down 4-3.

But any hopes for an upset were quickly dashed in the third quarter when the Tigers scored six goals to Villanova's two, giving them a 10-5 advantage going into the final quarter. The teams traded scores in the fourth, with Princeton ultimately winning, 13-8, to carry it into the next round to face Maryland.

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Colgan and Melia-Teevan each had three goals and joined six other Tiger players in scoring on the Wildcats.

Sophomore driver Megan Donahue scored twice and led the defense with five steals. Senior and freshman goalies Lauren Lister and Shannon DeVore split time in goal and combined for four saves.

Princeton, spurred onward by three first-quarter goals by Jazmin Brown, took an easy victory from Maryland, winning 15-2. The Tigers led 9-0 after the first quarter, and the defense shut the Terrapins' offense down until the fourth quarter.

"We're playing really hard defense," Colgan said. "We have to work a few things out this week in practice. We need to work out our offense."

Lister and DeVore again spent equal time in goal, recording three and two saves, respectively. Five players combined for 17 steals throughout the game, led by five from Carlson.

Princeton entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed, and will see some tougher competition at the Eastern Championships, including Michigan, Indiana and Hartwick, all teams that have defeated the Tigers this season.

Last year, Princeton finished third at Southerns, losing out to Indiana, 7-4, in the second round to put the Tigers in the consolation game. This is when the Hoosiers were still in the Southern Division. Princeton went on to finish fourth at Easterns, with the Hoosiers once again knocking the Tigers out, 5-1.