Men's Water Polo: Southerns first step on road to NCAA berth

As the second seed in the tournament, Princeton (14-9 overall, 6-2 CWPA Southern Division) will face the winner of the Friday-night contest between George Washington (7-19, 1-7) and Salem International (0-11), the ninth- and 10th-ranked seeds, on Saturday morning.

Heading into the most important games of the season, the Tigers have to recover from a loss last weekend. Princeton dropped a key game to No. 14 Navy (15-7, 7-1), finishing the regular season 1-1 against the Midshipmen.

“The most important thing we lacked last week, especially against Navy, was our intensity,” sophomore goalie Mike Merlone said. “We’ve shown intensity in some of our games […] but we need to pressure and really play for all four quarters and all three games this weekend.”

The Tigers have faced and defeated George Washington twice this season, with a strong 17-7 performance in their last encounter in DeNunzio Pool. The true test for Princeton this weekend will come in its last two games, as the likely matchups will be No. 20 Bucknell and ultimately Navy for the championship.

Princeton has split a pair of games with the Bison (14-13, 4-4), dropping an 11-6 decision in their first matchup but coming back with an 11-9 win at DeNunzio On oct. 24.

“We know we can beat Bucknell, but coming off the loss against Navy, we definitely have to regain some confidence,” Merlone said. “We need to play like the last time we played, keeping the pressure and intensity the entire match.”

Critical to the game against the Bison will be Princeton’s ability to break through the Bucknell defense, which takes away the two-meter shot and forces players to work for shots off the perimeter. With the different styles of play on display this weekend, the Tigers will need to be flawless in their transitions between different game strategies to keep control and play a full four quarters.

“We’ve focused this week on beating the Bucknell defense and being able to adapt to what happens throughout the game,” Merlone said. “We’ve played good defense throughout the year, and we just need to focus on continuing that throughout the weekend.”

Princeton should be able to defeat the Bison, leading to a Sunday-evening clash between the Tigers and the Midshipmen for the Southern title. Last year, Princeton dropped a game to Navy in the semifinal match, then fell in a one-point thriller against Bucknell, failing to qualify for the Eastern Championship.

Last week’s loss to Navy came after playing three consecutive weekend games, leaving the Tigers exhausted for their final matchup.

“We spend the last week over Fall Break doing doubles to work on our endurance, and after that we should be in good shape to go against Navy,” Merlone said. “What we really need to focus on is our mental mistakes and not getting down if we’re down a couple of points.”

Princeton’s 7-3 win over the Midshipmen came on the strength of the Tigers’ defense and contributions from all players throughout the game. Important to this weekend’s matches will be the Tigers’ ability to get their offense going and make opportunities for critical plays. Junior utility Eric Vreeland currently leads the Tigers in assists this year with 29, followed by 12 from senior utility Brendan Colgan.

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“Vreeland is definitely a play-maker, and he has a good understanding of the game and a good understanding of where everyone is in the pool,” Merlone said. “If he steps up this weekend and has a good game, he’s going set a good example, and everyone will follow along.”

The top four finishers of the Southern Championship will earn a spot in the Eastern Championship to be held later this month. The winner of Easterns will earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.