Southern California is a beautiful place. Ask anyone from the area, and you'll surely hear how gorgeous So-Cal is and just how drab and dreary the Northeast can be in comparison.
Though the majority of the members of the men's water polo team hail from that section of California, the Tigers' trip there this past weekend left them desperately craving a return to the friendly waters of Princeton's DeNunzio Pool.
The No. 16 Tigers (11-9 overall, 2-3 Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division) opened their weekend with a hard-fought 10-9 loss to No. 20 Cal-Baptist (20-11) on Friday, with senior utility Zach Beckmann netting four goals in the loss.
Princeton then traveled to Irvine, Calif., on Saturday for the two-day, four-game SoCal Tournament. The Tigers dropped three of four games in an exceptionally tough SoCal field that included No.1 Southern California and No. 3 Stanford, as well as the host school, No. 8 UC-Irvine.
The Tigers' first game of the tournament was against Stanford (6-3) on Saturday, and, despite the Tigers' impressive national ranking, they were unable to hang with the Cardinal. Princeton, led by Beckmann's two goals lost the match 16-5, with Andrew Drake, Jeffery Schwimmer and Michael Bury each having three goals to lead the Cardinal.
Princeton next faced No. 13 UC-San Diego (10-9) — a matchup of two closely ranked teams at a neutral site, with perfect conditions for a close, well-played contest.
The Tritons went ahead by two goals in the first game, but a strong run by the Tigers in the second pushed them into the lead. Princeton scored six goals in the second period while shutting out UC-San Diego to take a four-goal lead.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Tritons unveiled a run of their own. In the third period, UC-San Diego stormed back to tie the game at seven and swing the momentum of the game back into its favor.
The fourth period was the nail in the coffin for the Tigers, as the Tritons outscored them 3-2 in the final period for a 10-9 win.
The two Saturday losses left the Tigers out of contention for the SoCal championship, but two Sunday games remained — two more opportunities to showcase their skills to an audience that rarely gets a chance to see them in action.
The Orange and Black played Pomona-Pitzer (7-14), the third-ranked team in Division III. The gap between the two divisions showed, as the Tigers pummeled the Hens, 9-4. Junior utility Alex Edmunds led the Tigers with three goals, while junior driver Brendan Colgan contributed two goals of his own.
The fourth and final game for Princeton was for 13th place in the tournament. The Tigers faced Redlands (11-11), the No. 1 team in Division III. In this contest, the gap between Division I and Division III was not so apparent, as Redlands raced out to a 3-1 lead, then held on to its lead, outscoring the Tigers 8-7 over the next two periods. Down three goals in the final period, the Tigers were able to find the goal three times late in the game, but they were still one score short of a comeback, losing 12-11.
The SoCal tournament was disappointing for the Tigers, but the coming weekend will provide an opportunity to bounce back. Princeton has three CWPA games on tap, all in Maryland — a Friday matchup with Johns Hopkins, followed by a Saturday game against Navy and a Sunday showdown with George Washington. The Tigers will also face off against non-conference foe Air Force on Sunday in Washington, D.C.
The games will be critical to the Tigers as they aim to improve their current 2-3 conference record. If they can rebound from the four losses suffered in California with three conference wins back on the East Coast, Princeton could start to put the gloomy memories of its weekend in SoCal behind it.
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