Young team off to splashingly successful start

After the No. 15 men's water polo team's 5-0 start this season, one would hardly expect the squad was dealing with the graduation of nine seniors and the loss of three other players. The Tigers' 5-0 run at the Princeton Invitational included a victory over No. 17 Santa Clara.

And the Tigers' close loss to No. 12 Bucknell in triple overtime and their victory over MIT this past weekend proves that with time, Princeton (6-1 overall, 0-1 Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern) may be a major contender in the NCAA tournament this winter. While the team aims to win the Eastern title and climb the ranks in the NCAA tournament, however, the current focus remains on successfully unifying the team.

"This year, our top priority is to create a cohesive team unit so that we have a good base for the next couple of years," junior Carlo Bencomo-Jasso said. "We lost a lot of seniors last year who contributed a lot to the team, and we all knew that this year was going to be sort of a rebuilding year."

Fortunately for the Tigers, the team attracted several strong freshmen who have already contributed to the wins this season.

Both Jeff Cole and Tommy Parolin scored in their respective debut collegiate games, while Mike Merlone has stepped in to be an invaluable defensive asset, making six saves against MIT.

"Our freshman group is very strong, [and] we are looking for all of them to play a major role this year," head coach Luis Nicolao said. "Our success will depend a lot on how well our freshmen can make the adjustment to college."

This adjustment will also occur outside of the pool, as the freshmen must learn to balance their athletic careers with their academic lives.

The tough conditioning the team has gone through this year may also be a hurdle for the freshmen.

"This year, we have been working hard on our conditioning," Bencomo-Jasso said. "We have been swimming a lot and working on our legs so that we can out-swim other teams. Our conditioning will be an important part of our success this year."

Though the training is rigorous, Nicolao remains confident that the team's veterans will ease the process for the newcomers.

"The success of our teams always depends on the strength of our senior leadership," Nicolao said. "Our seniors have been great, and I am sure they will have our guys ready for the year."

Captains Zach Beckmann, Jason Diggs and Scott Syverson are the sole returning seniors. Their past achievements and leadership may help the team overcome No. 11 Navy, who defeated Princeton in both the Southern and Eastern championship games last year to take the title. Five of Princeton's eight losses last season were also to Navy.

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Beckmann, who is currently the lead scorer, was recently named by the CWPA as the Southern Player of the week following his 15-goal performance during the Tigers' win at the Princeton Invitational.

Syverson, who made 181 saves last year, returns as the star goalie, making 20 saves in the intense match against Bucknell.

Also returning are junior Brendan Colgan, Princeton's leading scorer last year with 29 goals, and sophomore Mark Zalewski, who had 21 goals last year.Thus far, the team chemistry has been strong both in practice and in matches. The team continues to train to defeat league rivals Navy and Bucknell.

The Tigers' next opportunity to test the waters is against Johns Hopkins on Sept. 23 at home.