Women's Water Polo: Southerns end in loss for Tigers

Sophomore utility Lauren Brunner said that eliminating Bucknell was particularly rewarding, as it defeated the Tigers twice earlier in the season.

“The overtime win against Bucknell was definitely the highlight of our season to date,” Brunner said. “As [it is] our biggest rival, we love nothing more than beating Bucknell. After losing to them in the game that was televised on ESPNU [on March 28], the team was fired up to get a win when it counted most this weekend.”

In the matchup against Bucknell, Princeton depended on one of its big-time scorers to net the win. With one minute, 25 seconds left in the second overtime period Saturday evening, junior utility Phoebe Champion, a player who has been producing for the Tigers all season, found the back of the net for the game-winning score. With the win, the Tigers earned their date in the finals with Maryland, which soundly defeated George Washington 15-7.

The entire matchup against Bucknell was tense, as neither the Tigers nor the Bison gained a significant edge. Both squads notched three goals in the first quarter of play, and Bucknell led 5-4 heading into the locker room at halftime.

With 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Tigers took a one-goal lead, but the Bison netted a late goal to knot the score at eight and send the game into the first overtime. Neither team scored in the period, and Champion netted the game-winner in the second overtime.

On offense, the Tigers were led by junior utility Helen Meigs, who scored four goals in the game. On defense, freshman goaltender Kristen Ward put together a solid performance, coming up with 13 total saves in the victory.

Brunner said that good defense was integral to her team’s play this weekend.

“The two games on Saturday showed us how important team defense is to our success,” Brunner said.

Later that day, Princeton fell to a tough Terrapin squad, which won its second CWPA Southern Division Championship in three seasons. Just as in its game against Bucknell, Princeton found itself tied at three heading into the second quarter. Six straight Maryland goals, however, sent the Tigers to halftime facing a five-goal deficit.

In the second half, the Terrapins iced their victory with key goals down the stretch. The Tigers had no answer for Maryland utility Elina Goldenberg, who found the back of the net five times on the evening.

The Terrapins were more successful than the Tigers on man-up opportunities, converting on five of seven while Princeton only scored on three of eight. Maryland also outshot the Tigers 28-23 in the game.

Brunner, who had two goals in the loss, said that her team realized its weaknesses in facing the Terrapins.

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“Though it was very disappointing to lose in the championship game, we learned exactly what we need to work on for next weekend,” Brunner said. “In the Maryland game, the defense was not clicking as much, and this led to a lot of easy goals. Once we work out the kinks on defense, we just need to be able to find the back of the net, and [it could] lead to great things.”

Next weekend, Princeton will travel to Cambridge, Mass., to compete in the Eastern Championships. Stakes will be high at Easterns, as the winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Eastern Championships is a bigger event than the Southern Championships, with eight teams vying for the title instead of four.

Brunner and her teammates said they are excited to be heading back to Easterns and will attempt to use some of the momentum they gained this weekend to be successful in Cambridge.

“[Easterns] is the weekend we work towards all season,” Brunner said. “We are ready to put this season’s experience together and give it our all, so we can have a lot of success this [upcoming] weekend.”