Despite leading late, Princeton falls to Bucknell

The Tigers (12-9 overall, 0-1 Collegiate Water Polo Association South), leading 5-3 late into the fourth period, failed to convert three man-up opportunities in the last five minutes of play, leaving the Bison (22-4) room to charge with three unanswered goals.

After returning from a tough training trip in sunny California, the Tigers have definitely settled into a more consistent offense and an especially tightened defense.

“Our intensity and overall defense is really strong now, especially when playing against harder teams that force you to adjust,” sophomore utility Phoebe Champion said. “But what we need to focus on more [are] our six-on-five possessions. We have not been scoring those, which are crucial for winning our games.”

The Tigers stayed even with Bucknell through the first frame and shut out the Bison completely in the second quarter, benefiting from crucial stops by senior goalie Natalie Kim, who had 12 saves in the contest.

The Bison turned it around at the beginning of the second half, exchanging two goals with Princeton, but were still behind with 15 minutes to play.

Good perimeter play by freshman utility Tanya Wilcox and sophomore center defender Lauren Sabb led to various opportunities for the Tigers, who picked up a point early on in the fourth. But the Princeton offense remained stagnant for the remaining minutes of the quarter.

“We weren’t attacking the goal that much on offense, and we should have been taking a lot more outside shots, but we’ve been forcing the ball too much into set,” Champion said. “We have some really good outside shooters, and we need to utilize that attribute a little bit more.”

With five minutes to go and the Princeton squad up 5-3, the Bison picked up the pace once again, killing a Princeton six-on-five situation. They followed that with an immediate counter, bringing the score to within a point.

Despite its quick and powerful play on offense, the Princeton squad has shown an obvious weakness in converting man-up opportunities. Of the 145 six-on-five opportunities this season, the Tigers have only converted 48, getting points on the board only 33 percent of the time.

“It’s not too bad of a problem to have, since it’s an easy thing to fix, but nevertheless it needs to be remedied,” Champion said. “Bucknell capitalized on a number of mistakes we made.”

Almost half of the games the Tigers have played this season have been decided by three goals or less, but even more striking is that the team has averaged seven man-up advantages per game. Strong performances both offensively and in front of the cage have helped the Tigers consistently keep a grip on most games, but have left them exposed in tight-game situations. Against the Bison, Princeton was one-for-nine in six-on-five opportunities.

After a quick exchange of possessions, Princeton drew two more ejections and the opportunity to put the game away for good, but it was unable to convert. With two minutes left to play, the Bison’s Meagan Gins connected with a shot from up top and sealed the final 6-5 score.

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Champion, who led the night in steals, picked up her fourth in the last 30 seconds of play and connected with sophomore utility Helen Meigs with 12 seconds to go. Meigs had a couple quick pumps and rifled a shot from the right perimeter, only to see it connect with the left post and then quickly fall into Bison possession.

With the action back at DeNunzio Pool this Saturday, the Tigers get their chance for a rematch as they face Bucknell again in their second conference game of the season. The Princeton squad is 3-2 at home so far, with its only home losses coming to top 15 ranked opponents.