The women's water polo team matched up against some of the nation's top teams this past weekend, proving in the process that it deserves to be considered among the best. Princeton pulled off two upsets on its annual trip to California en route to a 2-3 weekend record.
The Tigers traveled to UC-Santa Barbara to play in the 2005 Daktronics Gaucho Invitational. The tournament provided a sizable challenge for No. 19 Princeton (9-4 overall), as 18 of the nation's top 20 teams were represented.
There was no gradual easing into competition for the Tigers, who started the tournament with the unenviable position of facing No. 1-seeded UCLA (14-0) on Friday. The Bruins, who ultimately took first place in the tournament, jumped out to a quick lead and dispatched Princeton, 16-1. Sophomore center Samantha Shaughnessy scored the Tigers' lone goal.
Later that day, Princeton hopped back in the pool to face No. 18 Arizona State (4-5) in a second-round matchup. The Tigers fell behind early by a score of 4-2 and were further hurt by a scoreless drought of 13 minutes, 30 seconds.
Rising from the dead
Princeton came to life, however, when its second straight defeat seemed imminent. Buoyed by a series of steals by sophomore driver Danielle Carlson, the Tigers rallied off four goals in the final 2:09 to tie the Sun Devils at six and force an extra period.
The game went through two scoreless overtime periods before sophomore utility Elyse Colgan sealed the comeback victory for Princeton by scoring on a four-meter penalty shot with 1:03 remaining in the sudden-death period.
"It was a series of steals on Carlson's part," Shaughnessy said about the Tigers' comeback. "She played really good defense in the end."
Colgan and Carlson each scored twice in the game, while sophomore driver Maegan Zitren, junior driver Megan Donahue and sophomore driver Jazmin Brown added single goals.
Rough day
The next day didn't go as well for the Tigers, who dropped games to both No. 7 Cal and No. 12 UC-Davis.
Princeton had trouble getting its offense moving against the Golden Bears (7-2), who jumped out to a 6-1 lead. The Tigers netted four second-half goals, but it was too little, too late as Princeton finally fell, 16-6. Sophomore driver Jessica Harkins had two goals in the loss to the Bears.
Saturday was not without excitement, however, as it took UC-Davis (7-11) two overtime periods to put away the resiliant Tigers. Both teams played close throughout regulation and entered overtime with the score tied, 7-7. The Aggies and Princeton traded goals in the first overtime, but UC-Davis shut out the Tigers in the second overtime while scoring a goal of its own to hand Princeton its third loss of the tournament, 9-8.
Colgan notched four goals against the Aggies, and Zitren, Donahue, sophomore driver Karina Reyner and Brown each contributed goals.
Despite the previous day's setbacks, the Tigers came back to life on Sunday morning when they faced No. 15 UC-San Diego (3-9). The underdog Princeton team dominated for most of the game, controlling both the tempo and intensity of play and capturing the 5-1 win.
Freshman goalie Natalie Kim helped the Tigers' cause with 13 saves. Triton netminder Kaitlin Foe managed only five saves. As she had for much of the tournament, Colgan paced the Princeton offense with three goals, while junior utility Courtney Mee and Carlson added a goal apiece.
With the victory, the Tigers claimed a 15th place finish in the tournament. Despite placing ahead of only five teams, Princeton finished above three teams previously ranked higher than it, a result with which the Tigers can be extremely pleased.
"Overall, this was a good weekend," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "We had a chance to test ourselves with some of the best teams in the country, and I was happy with the results."
Princeton was one of only four teams east of the Mississippi to play in the tournament and is only one of five teams from that part of the country to be ranked among the top 20 nationally — 13 of the remaining 15 hail from California.
"I think the game is a lot faster [in California] because they let them play and be more aggressive," Shaughnessy said. "It's more fun, I think; it makes you a better player."
Princeton is not yet finished playing teams from the west coast. The Tigers' next three games are in West Virginia, but they then return to California for their following eight games.
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