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Men's water polo falls to Navy in CWPA Southerns finals

For the first time in three years, the men's water polo team is not the Southern Division champions. Despite solid play throughout the tournament, No. 15 Princeton succumbed to No. 12 Navy, 10-8, in the Southern Championship title game.

As expected, the title game came down to perennial rivals Princeton (19-9) and Navy (20-6).

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The two teams kept it close early in the game. The Midshipmen used a two-goal spurt midway through the first quarter to break away from the Tigers. Princeton responded with a man-up goal to narrow the score to 4-3 at the end of the quarter, but the Midshipmen would never relinquish the lead.

Navy tallied two goals in the second quarter to Princeton's one, putting the Midshipmen up 6-4 going into halftime.

Senior driver and co-captain John Stover rallied to score two goals in the quarter, but due to defensive lapses, the Tigers found themselves in a 9-6 hole at the end of the third.

With five minutes, 49 seconds left to play, Navy notched its final goal. Princeton scored twice more in the quarter in a last-minute rally but was unable to overcome Navy, ultimately falling 10-8.

While Princeton's offense was potent for the most part, spotty defense caused the Tigers to fall short.

"We didn't have a good day defensively. We gave [Navy] open looks they shouldn't have had," Stover said. "Because of these open looks, we were in a hole early on, and it felt like we were trying to play catchup for most of the game."

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Stover matched his effort from the previous game, notching another four goals. Junior driver Chris Kelsch, senior utility Mike McKenna, junior utility Reid Joseph and freshman utility Eric Vreeland all added one apiece as well.

In addition, Morgner made 15 saves in goal for the loss.

Come out swinging

The Tigers were dominant in the early rounds of the tournament, garnering three lopsided victories.

Princeton opened tournament play by defeating a struggling Gannon squad (11-13), 14-3. Kelsch and freshman utility Alex Edmunds led the way with three goals apiece. Stover and junior center Nick Seaver each chipped in two.

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Senior goalie Gant Morgner started off his impressive weekend by recording seven saves in the first half, while sophomore Scott Syverson tallied three in the second half.

Princeton then secured a top-four finish at the tournament and Eastern Championship berth Saturday morning with a 14-5 thrashing of Penn State-Behrend (3-21). Seaver notched three goals in the game and 10 different Tigers scored in all.

The Tigers faced a somewhat more challenging contest against Slippery Rock (23-5) in the semifinal. Princeton dominated the first half and led, 5-0, at the half. Slippery Rock mustered four goals in the second half, but Princeton easily added another five to post a 10-4 win.

Perhaps more exciting than the game itself was the fact that Stover recorded four goals to become the all-time leading scorer in Princeton men's water polo history.

Sophomore utility Zach Beckmann and freshman driver Brendan Colgan likewise had multi-goal performances, adding two apiece, and Morgner made five saves through three periods to pick up the win in goal.

Looking ahead

The Tigers' runner-up finish gives them the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Championships in Cambridge, Mass., next weekend. Princeton's first opponent will be Harvard (10-12).

"[Not having won Southerns] is definitely disappointing. It's nice to have the title going into Easterns," Stover said. "But we're all focused on Easterns, and the No. 2 ranking doesn't change what we need to go do; it only changes what teams we have to play."

Should Stover continue his scoring prowess and should the team tighten up its defense, the Tigers will be serious contenders for the Eastern Championship title and a subsequent NCAA tournament berth.