Men's Water Polo: Tigers place third in tourney

The No. 13 men’s water polo team picked up a 6-5 win against No. 6 Loyola Marymount in the NCAA consolation match, giving Princeton its first NCAA Final Four victory. It was just the third time that an East Coast team won a match in the championship tournament. Princeton (16-12 overall), the host of the NCAA championship this year, lost to the eventual winner, No. 1 USC (22-2 overall), by a 13-3 margin on Saturday afternoon.

Princeton set the tone early in the match against LMU (19-9 overall) by winning the first sprint, but could not score on its first three offensive opportunities.

Luckily for the Tigers, their defensive performance was nearly perfect. After a questionable call gave LMU a five-meter penalty shot, junior netminder Mike Merlone put up one of the highlight saves of the game, exploding out of the water to stop a Lion’s shot and keep the score tied at zero.

Following the LMU five-meter shot, senior left attack Eric Vreeland drew his own penalty. This five-meter shot set up senior left attack Mark Zalewski to deliver a rocket of his own, hitting the back of the net to end the first period with Princeton ahead, 1-0.

The Tigers kept the momentum going into the second period by winning the sprint, but the Lions’ second five-meter opportunity tied the game at one apiece.

The score wasn’t knotted for long, though, as Princeton countered with a goal from junior center defender Matt Hale. The Tigers continued to control the momentum as junior attack Tommy Parolin fired a shot from the perimeter to make the score 3-1 with one minute, 38 seconds left in the first half.

The Lions converted on an exclusion in the final seconds of the period, making the score 3-2 heading into the locker rooms.

LMU tied the game at three with five minutes to go in the third period, but Princeton quickly converted on a man-advantage opportunity, with senior attack Douglas Wigley lighting it up from the perimeter.

Then, a missed pass from a Lion player allowed freshman center defender Billy Tifft to counter, making the score 5-3 at the end of the third quarter.

Princeton continued its run going into the fourth stanza, with Vreeland drawing an ejection, setting up a six-on-five opportunity with seven minutes remaining. Zalewski converted a shot from the right side, making it a 6-3 match. LMU would not go down quietly: Two costly mistakes by Princeton’s defense allowed the Lions to get within a point with four minutes to play.

With seven seconds to go and Princeton holding onto a one-point lead, the Lions drew an ejection from the point and tried to knot the game.

But in keeping with the Tigers’ past games this season, a spectacular defensive unit stuffed the ball, giving Princeton the final possession and the win.

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“We held on in the fourth quarter, and we did everything we had to do,” Hale said. “Merlone played an amazing game, and that is definitely the best I’ve ever seen him play. They have really good shooters, and he shut them down.”

The win marks the first time that Princeton has won at the NCAA championship. It was also the best finish in the history of Princeton water polo.

“To have the chance to play in our own pool and in the Final Four makes me so proud of our guys, and it’ll be a day that will be remembered forever for Princeton water polo,” head coach Luis Nicolao said. “Any time you can beat a top-10 West Coast school is a great accomplishment for Princeton water polo.”

Zalewski led the way for the Tigers with two goals, while Merlone picked up seven saves in the legendary match.

Princeton’s first match of the weekend came against No. 1 USC, the eventual winner of back-to-back NCAA championships. Despite coming out with energy, Princeton could not overcome the Trojan offense, which put away three goals in the first quarter and another five in the second, making the score 8-0 at the end of the first half.

“USC is an excellent team,” Zalewski said. “They’re the favorites, and they have a lot of good players on their team. They don’t have any weak links. Any one of them can beat you. They have an Olympian at two-meter, so we’d drop on him, but they would beat us from the outside.”

The Tigers fought hard in the second half, but the eight-point deficit proved to be too much to overcome. Princeton managed to net three points in the final two quarters. Hale, Vreeland and Zalewski each contributed with a goal apiece. Merlone had eight saves, while senior netminder Scottie Hvidt picked up two.

“This weekend makes a statement for Princeton water polo,” Zalewski said. “Everyone kind of ignores East Coast water polo, assuming that we’re only here because they need to give the East Coast a spot, but today was a huge statement. UCLA only beat LMU in overtime, but we beat them in regulation, which is huge for us and for the East Coast.”