“We are excited to get this season going,” head coach Luis Nicolao said. “Our goal this year is to get to the NCAA Championships. There will be many tough challenges in trying to accomplish this.”
Under Nicolao, who is in his 11th season with the Tigers, last year’s squad recorded a 20-11 season highlighted by a first-place finish at the Southern Championships for the fourth time in five years.
The team featured two Honorable Mention All-Americas, goalkeeper Natalie Kim ’08 and junior utility Phoebe Champion. Kim graduated with the second-highest save total in Princeton history, and her presence in net will surely be missed. Sophomore Christina Michel and freshman Kristen Ward will compete to become the team’s new starting goalkeeper.
The Tigers will face Mercyhurst and Villanova this weekend in the Princeton Open. They will host a second tournament the weekend of Feb. 21, when they will square off against Marist, Harvard, Brown and Wagner.
Princeton will also look to the Bucknell Elite Six tournament at the end of the month, a competition which features the top two teams from each of the Southern, Northern and Western divisions of the Collegiate Water Polo Association. Michigan will arguably be the Tigers’ toughest test, as the Wolverines enter the season ranked 10th in the preseason poll. Last year, Michigan posted three wins over Princeton, including a heartbreaking 7-6 decision midway through the season.
After the game against the Wolverines, the Tigers will have matchups against Southern division foes George Washington and Maryland. While Princeton appears to be the best team on paper in the Southern division, games between intra-division rivals are always rough and unpredictable.
“The usual teams of Michigan, Maryland, Indiana and Hartwick will all be major challenges for us this year,” Nicolao said.
The Tigers will look in late April for their chance to repeat as well as to earn a higher finish at Easterns.
Last year’s squad managed to achieve success with Kim as its only senior. This year the team should benefit from the experience of its veterans, as all of its top scorers will return. Champion will likely be a standout for the Tigers, as her abilities to both score and set up her teammates will be crucial to the success of this year’s team. Champion demonstrated her well-rounded game last season, posting 42 goals, 26 assists and 35 steals.
Another player poised to have an explosive season this year is sophomore utility Lauren Brunner. As a freshman, she finished third on the team in scoring with 29 goals and will likely be a leader on the attack this season. Brunner earned herself a spot on the All-Southern First Team and was named Southern Rookie of the Year last season.
Senior utility Carolina Ardila returns to the team after a two-year absence and should enhance the offensive attack with her passing ability. In the 2006 season, Ardila lead the team with 32 assists while chipping in 22 goals.
The team also features a strong freshman class, which includes Ward, driver Cayley Bowles, utility Megan Charles and central defender Katlin Poladian.
“In the field we have a strong group returning, with the addition of a few freshmen that will have an impact for us,” Nicolao said.
While the Tigers should not have to immediately rely on contributions from the freshmen, a young presence always becomes crucial late in the season, as Nicolao will look to experiment with different lineups to give the rookies valuable experience.
Though Princeton started last season ranked higher than it finished, the Tigers look to the weekend with confidence and begin the season with high hopes of capturing another Southerns title as well as the Easterns title that eluded them last year.
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