Men's water polo loses first match of season to St. Francis

After improving its record to 8-0 and climbing steadily up the Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings, men's water polo was on a roll entering this weekend's tournament. In the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament, however, St. Francis (14-2 overall) derailed Princeton's happy train with a 10-6 victory over the Tigers (10-1) in Cambridge, Mass. With the loss, Princeton was forced to settle for third place.

The Terriers of St. Francis entered the competition with a score to settle, as the memory of Princeton's 13-10 win two weeks earlier remained fresh in their minds. In spite of claiming the season's first win, however, the Tigers had no delusions about what to expect of St. Francis.

"They've always been one of our biggest rivals," sophomore driver Kyle Morgan said. "We just wanted to go out and do our best, but that didn't happen."

Four quarters of intense, physical play was what they expected, and that was exactly what they got. Only with different results this time.

"The last time we met St. Francis we were a little bit more focused," junior center Jamal Motlagh explained. "We played up to our abilities and expectations, whereas this week we made a lot of mistakes and couldn't finish."

While fatigue and the lack of home-pool advantage may have played a factor, the main thing that hurt the Tigers was their inability to capitalize on man-up opportunities. Of their 11 six-on-five situations, Princeton was able to convert only two.

"We were not effective on our man-ups, and that seems to be our Achilles heel, so to speak," Morgan said.

"Our six-on-five was horrendous — and that makes or breaks a game right there," Motlagh said.

To St. Francis' credit, its great overall defensive effort and aggressive play was effective at slowing down some of the Tigers' more prolific scorers.

"St. Francis was definitely keying in more on [junior driver John] Stover and guarding him tightly, and that forced other players on the team to step up," Morgan explained.

Facing this kind of defense, the Tigers' deep bench has served them well. Under the intense defensive pressure of Sunday's contest, goals were spread evenly among the members of the team, with six different Tigers each scoring a goal.

Still, despite the team-wide offensive contributions, the loss highlights some key elements that Princeton will need to focus on before its next game.

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"We were being a little more cautious on Sunday, and we weren't being as aggressive as we should have been," Motlagh said. "It was a team loss. We all didn't do what we were supposed to do, and we didn't play up to our usual high standards."

Two opening wins

Those high standards were certainly evident the day before as Princeton destroyed George Washington, 14-6, and Iona, 13-4.

Stover, recently named CWPA Player of the Week, led the offensive charge, finding the net five times against George Washington (2-9). Also making a big impact was freshman utility Zach Beckmann who added three goals in the victory over the Colonials. In the cage for the Tigers was fellow rookie Scott Syverson, who tallied four saves.

That afternoon, Princeton came out with equal force against Iona (3-6). The scoring was liberal and widespread, with Stover garnering three goals and Beckmann and sophomore drivers Ben Reitz and Victor Wakefield each adding two.

"We played well," Morgan said. "They were both decisive victories."

Despite two crushing wins, the weekend was still a disappointment for the high-achieving Tigers. The season's first loss reveals a few kinks that Princeton will need to iron out before it heads west for a throw-down against some of the nation's top teams, including No. 2 Stanford and No. 8 Santa Barbara.