Women's Water Polo: Win vs. Wagner sets stage for weekend

On Friday evening, Princeton (13-9 overall, 2-2 Collegiate Water Polo Association [CWPA] Southern Division) travels to Lewisburg, Pa., to face Bucknell (15-11, 2-1) for the second time in one week.

The Tigers will then face a tough Maryland (11-11, 4-0) team at DeNunzio Pool on Sunday in Princeton’s final test of the regular season.

On Thursday evening, Princeton geared up for its tough weekend matchups by defeating Wagner (9-10) 7-4 at DeNunzio. Led on offense by senior utility Claire Jacobson, who netted two goals in the victory, the Tigers started fast and never looked back.

The Seahawks, however, would not go down without a fight.

With three minutes, 16 seconds left in the game, Wagner tallied a goal to move within one, but the Tigers iced the win with two insurance goals late in the fourth stanza.

The win over the Seahawks should give Princeton some confidence heading into its slate of weekend games.

Junior utility Phoebe Champion said that, in preparing for the repeat matchup against the Bison, the Tigers have been focusing on the mistakes they made in the first game.

“We closely watched the video of the game and pointed out the mistakes we made,” Champion said. “It’s always good to watch a game like that [and] to have a visual of what we need to work on. Those things were pretty apparent, so all week in practice we’ve been running through game situations of what we need to do in order to be successful this time.”

In last Saturday’s match against the Bison, the Tigers found themselves in a 7-3 hole during the third quarter of play. Princeton mustered three goals to climb back to within one with 3:05 remaining in the game. Two late goals by Bucknell, however, sealed the game for the Bison.

Junior utility Helen Meigs shined in the loss, netting two goals and two assists.

Meigs is having a productive season: She has racked up 29 goals and a team-leading 44 assists.

When the Tigers battle Bucknell this weekend, they will need solid defense to prevent the Bison from building an early lead. Freshman goalie Kristen Ward recorded seven saves against the Bison, and Princeton will look to her to anchor the defensive effort this time.

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The Tigers will certainly have their eyes on Bison driver Shana Palencia, who was recently named the CWPA Player of the Week after she notched four goals against Princeton.

After losing to the Bison last Saturday, Princeton showed resilience and endurance by defeating George Washington 13-5 later that afternoon. As in the game against Wagner, the key for the Tigers in that game was their ability to create a sizeable early lead.

Champion noted that beating the Colonials was essential for the morale of her team.

“After our somewhat disappointing performance against Bucknell, we all had the attitude of ‘we better dominate in the next game,’ ” Champion said. “So it wasn’t just so much needing the win, but needing a convincing win, which we took care of. I think we were all pleased with the team cohesion against George Washington.”

On Sunday, the Tigers take on Maryland at DeNunzio in a 1 p.m. matchup. The Terrapins’ main offensive weapon is utility Elina Goldenberg, who recently racked up her third CWPA Southern Rookie of the Week accolade.

Goldenberg is certainly a threat when she has the ball in her hands: She currently has 38 goals and 14 assists on the year. She scored five goals in Maryland’s impressive 11-9 victory over No. 18 Indiana University on March 29.

When the Tigers played the Terrapins in College Park, Md., on Feb. 15, the Orange and Black lost by a narrow 11-9 margin. In that game, Princeton displayed its ability to spread the ball around on offense, as four players scored at least two goals.

Princeton is certainly aware of the significance of this weekend’s games. Victories over tough league foes like Bucknell and Maryland would give the Tigers confidence heading into the Southern Championships on April 18 in College Park.

Champion said that Princeton’s main focus is its slate of games this weekend against the Bison and the Terrapins.

“At this point, we are taking it one game at a time and not looking so far ahead,” Champion said. “[We’re] doing everything we can to prepare ourselves to play the best we can will be the main goal. As long as we play confident and relaxed, I think we will be able to take care of business.”