Men's water polo heads to Palo Alto for Final Four

In an occurence about as rare as Halley's Comet, the men's water polo team and the women's soccer team will both be competing in the Final Four of their respective NCAA tournaments this weekend against the same foe, UCLA. However, die-hard Princeton fans will have to travel a good deal further to see the men's water polo team (25-4 overall), who will be playing in Palo Alto, Calif.

"I think maybe everyone should just skip North Carolina [the site of the women's soccer tournament] and fly to California," junior driver John Stover said.

A thrilling 3-2 victory over St. Francis earned the Tigers both the Easterns Championship title and a berth in the Final Four. This weekend's tournament is an opportunity that has eluded the team for 12 years, even though the Tigers have perennially shown themselves to be serious contenders.

"We've always been in contention, and I've always felt we could make it here," Stover said. "I knew this team was capable of doing it. . . . This is the biggest. Any time you have a chance to play for a national title, it's pretty huge. This is what we had in mind for water polo — winning Easterns and playing in the Final Four."

Also vying for the national title will be Loyola Marymount and host Stanford. These two, however, are not registering on Princeton's radar at the moment.

"To be here at this point is unbelievable. It's what we've aspired to get to," sophomore driver Chris Kelsch said. "Already we've come so far, and if we could get one more win it'll be unbelievable."

The casual fan might say that Princeton does not stand a chance against its California rival simply because it is an East Coast team. However, the knowledgeable fan will quickly point out that the last Tigers-Bruins matchup, two seasons ago, resulted in a UCLA (23-3) victory by only one goal.

"I think they're probably a better team than they were that year, but I think we are too," Stover explained. "[The Final Four] is so unpredictable, but I think if we play our best game, then we'll be there at the end and have a shot at winning."

To claim the national title that has never borne the Princeton name, the Tigers will have to dismantle the Bruins' impressive offense. UCLA's starting lineup is high scoring. Brett Ornsby leads the way with 67 goals this season. Three other UCLA starters have goal totals in the mid-20s.

"In practice we've been focusing on some man-up work," Kelsch said. "We've also been trying to mimic their defense so that our offense can figure out what to do at the right times."

But Princeton has some offensive aces of its own, including Stover, who leads the team with 59 goals, and sophomore driver Nick Seaver, who has had a breakthrough 45-goal season. Other serious offensive threats include Kelsch, freshman utility Zack Beckmann and junior center Jamal Motlagh, who have scored upwards of 20 goals each.

In preparation for the game, the Tigers have been practicing their man-up opportunities, the area that has been the team's Achilles' heel all season.

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In the end, it will all come down to execution and mental toughness. The Tigers have their eyes on the prize, something they've been working for all season.