Men's Water Polo: Season ends with loss to No. 14 Navy

Princeton (19-10 overall) performed well over the weekend, defeating MIT 15-13 on Friday and No. 17 Brown 14-9 on Saturday before falling to the Midshipmen in its final game.

The Tigers had a hard time finding their rhythm against the Engineers following two weeks without a game after winning the CWPA Southern Championships. Princeton gave up a one-goal lead after the first period, ending the first half down 7-6 after a last-second blast from utility Mike Smith-Bronstein put MIT ahead.

The Engineers widened their lead 30 seconds into the third period on a penalty shot. Now down 8-6, the Tigers stepped up as a trio of juniors — driver Douglas Wigley, utility Eric Vreeland and utility Mark Zalewski — put away three consecutive goals to give Princeton a 9-8 lead. MIT fought back, though, and tied the game at 10 going into the last frame.

With less than three minutes, 30 seconds to play and the game tied at 12, Zalewski put the Tigers ahead with a bullet to the inside left post. Sophomore center Jeff Cole put away the game-winner, and junior utility Gregor Horstmeyer followed quickly with an insurance goal. Princeton’s 15-13 victory set up a semifinal match against Brown on Saturday afternoon.

In contrast to its patchy first-round game against MIT, Princeton remained intense for the entire matchup against the Bears. Starting off with two goals from Wigley and senior utility Alex Edmunds, the Tigers held a two-goal lead for much of the first period while allowing Brown only one goal in the first eight minutes of regulation.

Princeton didn’t stop there, increasing its lead to 5-1 with less than 3:30 to play in the second period. Brown responded with two six-on-five goals at 3:08 and 2:09 left to play to bring the game within two. The teams exchanged scores before the half was over, making the game 6-4 going into the third period.

Vreeland clinched the game in the third period with a two-goal effort, helping the Tigers build a five-goal lead. Though Brown came to within three goals with seven minutes to play in the fourth, Princeton pulled ahead and finished the game 14-9.

After defeating the Bears, the Tigers faced off against the Midshipmen on Sunday for the fourth time this season, with a 2-1 record against them going into the match. Building off its intensity from the Brown match, Princeton held Navy to two goals in the first 16 minutes of play, allowing no goals in the second period. The squads were equally matched for much of the first half, as tight defensive play from both sides kept scoring opportunities to a minimum. Princeton owned a slight lead at halftime, beginning the third period up 3-2.

With a goal in the first few minutes of the third, the Tigers held a two-goal lead until 5:30 remained in the quarter, when Navy began to hit its stride. The Midshipmen put four goals away in less than five minutes of play and completely stopped the Tigers for the rest of the period, making it a 6-5 game going into the fourth period.

Princeton never caught up again, with Vreeland netting the Tigers’ only goal in the last frame. A strong defensive performance from the Midshipmen prevented any offensive opportunities for the Tigers in the final minutes of play. Navy allowed only three shots on goal the entire period and none in the final two minutes of play.

Four Princeton players were named to the 2008 Eastern All-Tournament team — more than any other team — with sophomore netminder Mike Merlone, senior utility Brendan Colgan, Vreeland and Cole earning the honors. Merlone made 36 saves in the tournament, while Vreeland led the Tigers with eight goals, followed by Wigley with seven.

The players weren’t the only Tigers honored, though, as head coach Luis Nicolao was awarded the Dick Russell Coach of the Tournament award.