Women's Water Polo: Michigan to be tough foe at Easterns

Only once during that span, in 2007, did the Tigers eliminate the Wolverines. Heading into Friday’s Easterns quarterfinal against Michigan in Cambridge, Mass., Princeton looks to duplicate its 2007 result.

This goal will not be easy to achieve. Michigan (30-8 overall), ranked No. 12 in the nation, is the defending Easterns champion and is riding a 24-match winning streak.

In March, when Princeton (15-12, 2-4 Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division) last faced the Wolverines, Michigan swam away with a 12-5 win.

Still, after a valiant performance in last weekend’s Southern Championships, the Tigers are confident.

After beating rival Bucknell in overtime in the semifinals, Princeton fell to the No. 20 Maryland Terrapins 14-10.

In preparation for Southerns, the team focused on readying its offense, junior utility Helen Meigs explained. Now, the team’s attention has shifted.

“Our breakdown, ultimately, was defensive, so we’ll be reviewing the fundamentals, making sure we’re on the same page mentally,” Meigs said.

Against Michigan and its high-powered offense, Princeton will indeed need to focus on its defense, which shut down Bucknell on Saturday. The Wolverines’ attack is led by Alison Mantel, who has scored 50 goals this year to complement her 24 assists. Close behind Mantel are goal scorers Meagan Cobb and Julie Hyrne, who have notched 41 and 40 goals, respectively.

Even facing these apparently daunting numbers, the Tigers do not seem overly fazed. Junior utility Phoebe Champion, who leads the team in goals with 43, explained that the team would be relying on freshman goaltender Kristen Ward.

“[Kristen] played really well this past weekend despite a foot injury that’s been going on for a long time,” Champion said. “She’s been coming through in the clutch to make some key saves.”

Champion added that freshman center defender Audrey Zak has also been emerging as a key player over the past few weeks. Meigs, the team leader in assists and shot percentage, explained that Zak “has had a real breakout season. She’s been lighting it up for us the last few weekends.”

Meigs said that she was confident in the Tiger defense.

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“We’re not going to do any crazy new plays or anything. We’re just making sure we’ve got our fundamentals down,” she said.

Meigs added that while the team defense is critical, Champion’s offense would also be instrumental to the Tigers’ success. “Phoebe Champion is always our offensive force,” she explained.

Both Meigs and Champion said that the team could have done better this year overall but that Easterns provided a perfect stage for the Tigers to prove themselves.

“It’s been one of our worst seasons in a while, but we can salvage the year,” Meigs said. “I’m pumped. We’re ready to go out and prove to everybody that we’re better than our record says.”

Champion, too, seemed optimistic about the Tigers’ chances. “I don’t want to speak too soon, but I think it could be anyone’s game this weekend,” she explained. “A lot of the teams have been in the same boat [as us], in that they’ve lost some crazy games and won some crazy games. It will be affected by the refereeing. Hopefully that will be consistent and fair, but I think that whoever comes out and really gets after it will be able to take anyone on. The teams are much more even this year.”

If the Tigers can swim past the Wolverines on Friday, they will play the winner of the Maryland-Bucknell game Saturday. The championship game follows on Sunday.