Men's water polo escapes weekend with four close wins

With Easterns and Southerns approaching, men's water polo (16-4 overall, 8-0 Collegiate Water Polo Association) has put its record back on track by adding four wins this weekend. Despite playing in the home pool of their rival Navy Midshipmen in Annapolis, Md., the Tigers did not play Navy but instead faced Johns Hopkins, Salem, Bucknell and George Washington.

The Tigers were confident heading into this weekend since Princeton had already played three of the four teams and had beaten each team by at least a four-goal margin. Bucknell was the only wild card of the lot. In spite of that advantage, the Tigers did not play at the same level at which they started the season.

"It was a difficult weekend because we made it difficult for ourselves," head coach Luis Nicolao said.

"In general, we did not play as well as we had hoped," junior center Jamal Motlagh said. "We made some of the games more of a struggle than they needed to be. However, it was nice to end the weekend with four wins."

Against Johns Hopkins (11-11) in the first game of the weekend, Princeton water polo was at its best. The Tigers had a quick start, which they sustained with the help of reliable scorers; junior driver John Stover netted three goals, and Motlagh added two. The 11-5 win was a big improvement compared to the 16-11 outcome earlier this season.

The freshman constituency was also a key aspect to the game as utility Zack Beckmann tallied two goals.

"I think that Zack did a very good job this weekend," sophomore driver Chris Kelsch said. "He kept us in the Salem game."

Also starting in the cage the entire weekend was freshman goalie Scott Syverson.

"Scott Syverson did a great job," Nicolao said. "He was a little nervous going in to this weekend, and we're happy for the way it turned out for him." The Tigers then took on Salem International (8-7), a team they had previously beaten, 14-10, and were pushed to overtime before squeaking by with a 15-14 victory.

"Salem played well, but we made them look good at times. It was one of those weird games where we couldn't seem to get things right," Nicolao said.

Junior driver Dean Riskas finally sealed the deal with a sweet goal in the closing moments of the second bout of overtime play. Stover and Beckmann undeniably bore the brunt of the offensive load, adding five goals apiece. Despite a few bright spots, the game was an uncharacteristic struggle for the Tigers.

"They took us to double overtime, so we were kind of disappointed that it came to that point," Kelsch said.

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The last game of the day was against Bucknell (13-9), a team that has made great strides this season, as demonstrated by an early win over Navy. Sensing a big game was at hand, Princeton came out with the intensity and drive that seemed to have deserted them the game before. But after overwhelming the Bisons and jumping to a quick 5-1 lead, the Tigers let their guard slip. Three minutes later, Bucknell was back in the game, 5-5.

"We lost our focus, and then it was 5-5, and once you've done that it's a dogfight," Nicolao explained. "We were lucky to pull it out at the end of the game thanks to a nice drive by Stover and a pass by Motlagh."

The play in question gave Princeton the 10-9 victory.

"We had a defensive letdown," Motlagh said. "And by halftime, it was 5-5, and we battled back and forth, and it came down to us getting the ball. Coach Nicolao called a timeout and planned a masterful play in which I gave a left-hand money pass to Stover, who dropped the hammer in the goal with seconds left to go."

The Tigers got a victory the next day as well with a 6-4 win over George Washington (4-16, 1-7). The Tigers jumped to a quick 4-1 lead and stayed ahead with help from Stover's three goals.

Despite several close calls regarding performance in the pool, improvements were made from the deck as Nicolao stayed reasonably dry, considering that last week he fell into the pool.

"I stayed dry," Nicolao said. "I was probably sweating a little more than usual, but it had nothing to do with pool water."