Tigers’ title run cut short

“Overall, I think that we did alright,” junior utility Eric Vreeland said. “It was a good weekend in that it exposed some of our weaknesses.”

Those weaknesses consist mainly of Princeton’s six-on-five offense. A six-on-five situation is equivalent to a power play in hockey in that a player from one team is ejected, giving the other team a man advantage. To have a good chance to win, a team must convert on the majority of its six-on-five opportunities. During the game against St. Francis, the Tigers missed an opportunity to play a more competitive game by only converting on one of their 10 their six-on-five opportunities.

“We’re going to work on [our six-on-five offense] all week before our trip to D.C. this weekend,” Vreeland said.

During the loss to St. Francis, sophomore goalie Mike Merlone made 10 saves, while junior utility Gregor Horstmeyer led the offense with three goals. Senior utility Brendan Colgan and junior driver Douglas Wigley also scored in the loss.

The loss to the Terriers placed Princeton in the lower bracket, resulting in less challenging opponents for the Tigers’ remaining matchups. The Tigers easily defeated No. 19 Brown for the second time this season, 15-10, keyed by three goals each from Vreeland, Wigley, sophomore center Jeff Cole and sophomore center defender Matt Hale. Princeton was up 8-5 at the half and then scored six straight goals in the third quarter to put the game away.

On Sunday in the fifth-place game, Princeton defeated Iona in a protracted struggle. At halftime, the game was tied at four, but the Tigers put away Iona, 8-5, with two decisive third-quarter goals and 12 saves from Merlone.

Next weekend, Princeton heads south to face conference foes Johns Hopkins, No. 11 Navy and George Washington. The first real in-conference games for the Tigers, these matchups will be crucial for establishing if the Tigers have what it takes to win in the Collegiate Water Polo Association this year.

“I think that … we’ll do well,” Vreeland said. “We think we’re in a good position to come away with an undefeated weekend.”

The toughest game of the weekend will likely be the showdown against Navy (9-6), especially because the game is in Annapolis. Navy is coming off a long West Coast road trip against several ranked teams. The Midshipmen went 3-2 on their road trip, with two wins over UC-Davis and one over Air Force. While Navy competed at the season-opening Princeton Invitational at DeNunzio Pool last weekend, the Tigers did not play them.

Johns Hopkins (5-7) finished in second at the ECAC championship, registering wins against Harvard and fourth-place finisher George Washington (4-7). Both Johns Hopkins and George Washington were aided by their seeding in the tournament, which had them pitted against less competitive opponents in the opening round before moving into the main bracket.