Tigers place fourth at ECAC Championships

The Princeton men's water polo team fought hard this weekend and came home with a well-earned fourth place finish at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship (ECAC) at Bucknell.

The No. 18 Princeton team (8-4 overall, 1-2 Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division) split games on Saturday with a 10-8 win against Harvard (6-4) and a 9-7 loss to No. 14 St. Francis (10-2). On Sunday afternoon, the Tigers met a resilient No. 11 Bucknell team (10-2) that resisted a strong Princeton comeback in the fourth quarter, leaving the score 11-8 at the buzzer.

While the Crimson squad came out hard during the first two quarters, leading 5-4 at the half, the Tiger defense responded during the second half, allowing only one goal during the third quarter and two in the fourth.

"During the Harvard game, we did all right. We had a hard time coming out in the first quarter, but we were able to pull it together," junior driver Brendan Colgan said. "We have had a hard time during the first quarter, but we kind of wake up in the second quarter, and we are able to shut teams down."

This theme would continue for the Princeton squad for the rest of the weekend.

Senior utility Zach Beckmann and junior Utility Alex Edmunds both played a consistent game, netting four and two goals respectively. Senior goalie Scott Syverson had four saves and freshman goalie Mike Merlone had six saves in the Harvard game.

Later that night, Princeton started slow against St. Francis, allowing the Terriers a 5-2 lead at the end of the second quarter. But, just as in the Harvard game, the Tigers came out strong during the second half, holding St. Francis to a complete standstill for 15 minutes as they tried to close the gap between them.

Syverson had an impressive 10 saves in the first three quarters, and four more came from sophomore goalie Scottie Hvidt during the standout fourth quarter. Princeton scored six goals in the second half, with three of the final seven Tiger goals coming from sophomore utility Mark Zalewski. St. Francis, which would go on to win the tournament, held on strong, however, halting the Princeton comeback to 9-7 at the end of the fourth.

The win Saturday morning earned Princeton a shot for third place against 11th-ranked Bucknell. Once again, though, the Tigers started sluggishly, allowing the Bison a 7-2 lead by half time. The only Princeton goal during the first quarter came from Beckmann on a five-meter penalty shot. With the deficit looming over them, the Tigers needed a big comeback in the second half.

With a thirst for victory, Princeton's defense came alive, allowing only two goals for the next period. Despite Tiger efforts, the Bison still held a 10-5 advantage at the beginning of the fourth quarter. In a last attempt, Princeton responded aggressively with three consecutive goals in a span of two minutes. But the Bison held on, ending the game 11-8 despite Princeton's hard efforts.

"I think this weekend was a big opportunity to get better and to start buckling down and really realize what we need to work on," Colgan said. "We're a pretty young team, a lot of freshmen and it's their first couple of weeks playing college water polo."

Princeton was led in its final game by Beckmann's two goals, with other members of the team contributing goals throughout the game. Beckmann ended the weekend leading the team with seven goals in total, followed by Zalewski, who had five.

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Bucknell, the highest ranked team outside California, hadn't defeated Princeton in any of their last 23 meetings but has recently proven to be quite the opponent, with a nail-biting 13-12 overtime win last week along with this weekend's win. St. Francis has won the tournament four years in a row and took first place once again with an 8-7 victory over 13th-ranked Navy (10-5) in the championship match.

Princeton now faces a challenging week, hosting Queens this Friday and Navy and Bucknell on Saturday afternoon.