Men's water polo to face four familiar foes on road

Men's water polo faces four familiar foes this weekend. The Tigers, currently ranked 12th in the nation, will travel south to take on Johns Hopkins, Salem International, Navy and George Washington.

While these teams are not necessarily at the apex of the Eastern Conference, and while Princeton (13-6 overall, 5-1 College Water Polo Association) has already played each team at least once, the road trip serves as an all-important tuneup before the championship season.

"Our practices and games are all meant for fine-tuning right now," senior utility Jake Harter said.

The Tigers' first test, Johns Hopkins, is scheduled for Friday. If past results are any indication of the outcome, Princeton should have no problem. The Tigers have dismantled the Blue Jays in both of their meetings this year, 14-5 and 10-3. Both contests, however, occurred at Princeton's home pool.

Johns Hopkins may prove to be a stronger team in its home pool, and the team is fresh off a successful 4-0 trip to California. In knocking off the No. 1 University of the Redlands by a score of 6-4, the Blue Jays nabbed the No. 1 Division III ranking for themselves. Momentum is clearly behind the Blue Jays.

The Tigers will then take on Salem International in Annapolis on Saturday. In the two teams' previous meeting this season, Princeton ousted its opponent, 13-9. The heavily European Salem International squad will likely keep things competitive and challenge the Tigers to play up to their potential.

Princeton's match against No. 13 Navy (14-6, 6-1) on Saturday night will probably be the most challenging of the weekend's games. The Midshipmen hold a one-game lead over the Tigers in the CWPA Southern Division.

"We are really looking forward to the games at home this weekend, where the top seed for the Southern Division Tournament will be decided in our pool," Navy head coach Mike Schofield said.

The Tigers, led by senior driver John Stover's 52 points this season, know that a win could secure the No. 1 seed for them.

The Midshipmen and Princeton have only met once this season, and the Tigers prevailed with an 8-6 victory.

Princeton's final match is against George Washington on Sunday. The Tigers claimed both an 8-5 victory at the Princeton Invitational and a 9-4 win in Salem over the Colonials. George Washington is 11-10 overall this season and recently tallied a 5-1 performance in California.

While these league games will be invaluable to Princeton in perfecting technical skills, the games may be even more important in helping the Tigers develop synergy.

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"The thing we need to find most right now is a team dynamic," Harter said. "It requires a certain amount of time in the water together, which we're getting at, but it's also a mindset."

This mindset is difficult to achieve, but Princeton is confident it will come. Despite a few letdowns this season, the squad believes it will peak in time for its most important tournaments.