USC won the tournament by defeating Stanford 8-7 in overtime in the final.
The weekend started with a Friday-evening match against top-ranked USC. For the first eight minutes of the game, the Tigers played some of their best defense of the season, keeping the Trojans to one goal. The USC offense broke through in the second, however, putting six goals away and ending the half ahead, 7-2. The Tigers could not recover in the third, as the Trojans added two more to the scoreboard and kept the Princeton offense at a standstill. The teams exchanged goals in the final frame, but there was little Princeton could do to close the seven-goal gap, losing 11-4.
Junior two-meter defender David de L’Arbe led the Tiger offense with two goals, while senior utility Brendan Colgan and junior driver Matt Hudnall rounded out the match with a goal apiece. Sophomore Mike Merlone and junior Scottie Hvidt shared time between the pipes and notched seven and three saves, respectively.
Princeton opened the tournament with a rematch against No. 3 Stanford and used effective ball control and solid defense to keep the score even after the first eight minutes. The Cardinal pushed ahead in the second, though, adding three goals and holding Princeton to one in the first half. The Tigers were shut out during the third and allowed the Cardinal to add five to the scoreboard. While Princeton got back on the board in the fourth, it couldn’t overcome the deficit, finishing the match down 12-4.
The early Saturday loss to Stanford pitted the Tigers against No. 11 Pacific, which lost its first-round match against No. 6 Loyola Marymount earlier in the day. Princeton hit its stride early, taking a lead in the first two periods and leading by five during the third period. Pacific closed the gap during the fourth, but the Tigers held on and turned in their first win of the weekend against a highly ranked opponent.
At the head of the offense was sophomore center Jeff Cole, who led the way with six goals, followed by junior driver Doug Wigley, who contributed three. Princeton held strong in goal, with Merlone notching 11 saves.
The Tigers faced off against No. 7 Long Beach State on Sunday morning and trailed 2-1 by the end of the first period. In an offensive flurry during the second, Princeton tied the score but then slipped behind, as its three goals were outdone by four from Long Beach State. Down by two at the start of the second half, Princeton tried to close the gap but was outdone offensively, as the 49ers put away four goals to Princeton’s two, increasing their lead by two. Going into the fourth, Long Beach switched goalies and shut out the Tigers during the final frame, preventing any chance for a comeback. Junior utility Mark Zalewski and Cole led the Tigers with two goals apiece.
Princeton’s last and most hotly contested match of the weekend came on Sunday night, reaching a fourth sudden-death overtime. With a third-round loss, Princeton faced No. 16 Redlands, the top-ranked Division III school, which was coming off an upset of No. 14 St. Francis the previous day.
Princeton got off to a sluggish start, failing to take the lead at any point during the first half. Trailing 5-4, the Tigers were in need of some offense, as the Bulldogs seemed ready to pull away. With crucial goals from Cole in the third, Princeton managed to even the score at eight and pulled ahead by two goals with less than two minutes to play in the fourth. Two Redlands goals forced overtime, but the Tigers outlasted the Bulldogs in four periods of overtime play. Zalewski put away the game-winner with 1:55 to play in the fourth overtime period, ending the match.
The Tigers return to the East Coast this weekend to play Bucknell, Johns Hopkins and Mercyhurst.
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