Men's Water Polo: Princeton falls to Bucknell, tops George Washington

After an impressive showing at last week’s ECAC Championship, the No. 17 men’s water polo team was left only with questions at the end of their two-game stint over the weekend.

The 10-9 loss to Bucknell was Princeton’s (5-5 overall) first against an unranked opponent, while the Tigers’ win against George Washington (4-12) came as little comfort after the tough loss in Lewisburg, Pa.

The Saturday matchup in the Kinney Natatorium was standing-room only, but the crowd didn’t have much to cheer about after the Tigers broke the match open with a strong first period, outplaying and outscoring Bucknell, 5-2.

Princeton held on to the three-point lead throughout the second period, ending it ahead 7-4. The Tigers were flat in the second half, however, and allowed the Bison five unanswered goals, four in the third and one in the fourth, before Princeton would notch its next tally. Two back-to-back goals in the fourth put the Tigers even at nine, but a go-ahead goal with one minute, nine seconds to play gave Bucknell the win.

“This game says a lot on the season: a lot of missed opportunities, a lot of missed shots, and these missed chances have resulted in these close games,” head coach Luis Nicolao said. “That’s the third close game that we’ve lost that we should have won.”

“We’ve lost to Buckell … the last two years, and it’s extremely loud inside their facility, and they pack it with fans,” junior goalie Mike Merlone said. “Once they get a couple goals and get it going, it’s deafening, and it’s tough to play in an environment like that.”

Senior left attack Mark Zalewski had a season-high four goals in the Bucknell matchup, and junior center Jeff Cole added two scores of his own. Senior goalie Scottie Hvidt had 18 saves in the match, a career high. Hvidt is a sports columnist for The Daily Princetonian.

The Tigers started slowly against George Washington, giving up some defensive goals early in the first, but they held a 4-2 lead after eight minutes. A strong second frame increased that lead to four, but there were several missed opportunities, including a missed five-meter shot.

“Our team is pretty run down right now,” Nicolao said. “We’re sick, and we need to get healthy. We need to get Merlone back in the water, and [senior left attack Eric] Vreeland had to sit out today, so we just need to get back into the swing of things.”

With a majority of the George Washington offense coming from its strong two-meter man, Princeton nearly shut down the Colonials in the last two periods with a well-executed drop defense, essentially double-teaming that two-meter man throughout the match.

The Tigers were also clearly the better-conditioned team, with the Colonials giving up several counterattack goals and failing to get back to defense a number of times toward the end of the match. By the end of the third period, Princeton had pulled ahead by six points, and, more importantly, it had established the rhythm for the rest of the game.

The Tigers dominated in the fourth period, with George Washington doing little more than swimming along for the final eight minutes of the match. Princeton pulled ahead, 15-5, by the last minute, but it gave away two goals in the final seconds to end the game at 15-7. The 15 goals marked the highest tally in a game posted by Princeton this season, and the eight-goal margin in this game tied for the greatest score differential on the year.

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Zalewski again led the team in scoring, clocking another season high, this time with six goals. Hvidt recorded six saves in three periods, and senior goalie Henry Fyfe posted one in the fourth.

Princeton will have a three-game weekend next week, facing No. 13 Navy on Saturday for the second time this season. The Tigers will also take on Bucknell once more, on Sunday afternoon.

“We have a chance of having a good weekend,” Nicolao said. “We have two very tough games, and playing Navy will be a lot of fun,” he added. “This will be the last home game of the season for our seniors, so that should mean something for the guys, and it’ll push them to have a good weekend.”

After last weekend’s action, the Tigers move to 2-1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division. Bucknell and Navy remain at 3-0, and each has four more games to go before the Southern Championships in November.

The top teams at Southerns will qualify for the Eastern Championships, the winner of which will receive a berth into the NCAA Championships, which will be hosted by Princeton in December.