Offense must improve vs. East Coast rivals

With two tournament-filled weeks under its belt, the No. 19 men’s water polo team will be on the road this weekend facing conference rivals No. 14 Navy, No. 18 Johns Hopkins and George Washington. Last week’s ECAC tournament exposed many of the Tigers’ weaknesses. An increased focus on converting six-on-five opportunities, along with establishing a moving offense, will help Princeton (3-4 overall) become an offensive force to be reckoned with.

Last weekend, the Tigers suffered an 11-5 first-round loss to St. Francis in the ECAC tournament, dropping the team into the lower bracket. Princeton took care of its business against Brown and Iona, however, to claim fifth place in the tournament.

The Tigers will open the weekend with an afternoon match against the Blue Jays (5-7), who are returning from a second-place finish at the ECAC championship, their best finish ever. The highlight of Hopkins’ season so far has been a stunning 9-8 win over Navy at the Princeton Invitational two weeks ago, where the teams matched each other goal for goal for until time ran out with the Blue Jays up by one. Navy (9-6) had the final word, however, defeating Johns Hopkins 9-4 the following week.

The Blue Jays are led by senior utility Peter Davis, who has notched multiple goals in each of their matches this season. Davis is complemented by senior two-meter defender Alex Bond, who paves the way for Johns Hopkins with a strong perimeter shot.

Both Princeton and the Blue Jays rely on a variety of players as their main offensive force, using movement more than the mainstay two-meter man to create opportunities on offense. With teams so evenly matched, the win will come down to which offense has the best communication and makes the most of six-on-five opportunities, which many times end up deciding a close match.

Following the afternoon matchup, the Tigers face their historic rival Navy, which currently holds a 10-match win streak against Princeton. The last year the Tigers defeated the Midshipmen was during the 2005-06 season, shortly after the Princeton Invitational. Navy has had a strong start to its season, with only one of its six losses coming against a non-Californian team.

The Midshipmen are led by All-American senior attack Michael Mulvey, who will enter this season in Navy’s top 10 for career points. The best offensive force on the Navy team, Mulvey averaged three goals per game against Princeton last year and needs to be a top priority for the Tiger defense.

After two tough Saturday matches, Princeton will face George Washington (5-7) on Sunday morning. The Colonials have had a fair season so far, pulling off an upset win against Bucknell early in the season and a close one-point loss to Johns Hopkins. While the Tigers managed multiple wins against George Washington last season, the Colonials have all the tools for an upset if Princeton doesn’t bring its A game.

The Colonials are led by senior driver Dave Zenk and freshman driver Cray Rogers, who was just named the Southern Conference Rookie of the Week. With more than half of its losses determined by fewer than two goals, George Washington has proved to the league that it can hang with the rest of them, including ranked teams such as Johns Hopkins and Bucknell.