Women's Water Polo: Tigers find mixed success against Southern California opponents during break

The women’s water polo team spent its spring break in sunny Southern California. While it may sound like a vacation, the No. 20 Tigers (12-7) were hard at work playing nine games over 10 days.

The Tigers started the California trip in San Diego, Calif., at the San Diego State Invitational. Princeton lost its first two games at the invite to California State University, Bakersfield, (11-14) and No. 3 California (20-5). The Tigers appeared to have control of the game against Bakersfield, leading 8-4 with four minutes left in the game. But the Roadrunners rallied back to tie the Tigers with 14 seconds remaining to force the game into overtime. The extra period ended with a Bakersfield goal by driver Kaitlin Torres, who had four goals in the game. Princeton followed its heartbreak loss, with another defeat at the hands of Cal. Despite Cal’s size and speed advantages, freshman driver Brittany Zwirner managed to get three goals past Cal’s strong defense. The Tigers ended up losing 13-4.

Princeton rebounded from its early difficulties with four wins in a row. The Tigers took down University of California, San Diego, (7-13) and Wagner College (8-13) to close out the San Diego State Invitational. Princeton battled with the Tritons in a defensive struggle in the early quarters. The Tigers eventually prevailed, winning 6-4. Sophomore goalie Kristen Ward stopped eight shots as she provided a solid backstop for the Tigers’ defense. Princeton built on its success by beating Wagner 9-4. Once again, the Tigers’ tremendous team defense was the difference.

“I think our defense improved a lot this week,” junior utility Lauren Brunner said. “As a team, we started eliminating the defensive mistakes that were plaguing us in the beginning of the season.”

Princeton took its solid team defense up the California coast to Irvine to face Concordia (11-7) in a mid-week battle. The Tigers withstood the Eagles’ attack to continue their winning streak with a 13-9 victory. Six Tigers notched a pair of goals each, including junior defender Tanya Wilcox. Wilcox had a superb week for the Tigers keeping opponents’ hole sets from getting easy goals.

“Defenders rarely get enough credit,” senior driver and tri-captain Phoebe Champion said. “Tanya played great solid defense the whole week, really allowing us to put pressure on the perimeter.”

Princeton then continued its drive up Interstate 5 to Los Angeles to compete in the Loyola Marymount Invitational. The Tigers pounced on their first two foes, easily handling California State University, San Bernardino, (3-18) and Sonoma State (3-18). Senior driver and tri-captain Carolina Ardila recorded five goals in the two games, and Champion recorded six. Ward recorded nine saves in each game, shutting out Sonoma State through three and a half quarters.

The final day of the California trip did not go well for the Tigers. Princeton struggled to play to its full potential against San Diego State. The Aztecs (17-9) resisted the Tigers’ pursuit to earn the victory in a closely fought match. Two fourth-quarter six-on-five conversions for the Aztecs pushed the game out of Princeton’s reach, and San Diego State won 10-8.

Loyola Marymount was too strong for the Tigers in their last game of their marathon week. The No. 9 Lions (17-2) jumped out to 5-1 in the first quarter and never looked back. Princeton was never able to get going and lost 13-3 to end its California trip with a 5-4 record.

“The week was long and tiring, and a good test of our physical and mental toughness overall,” Champion said. “Those good, close games against CSUB and SDSU are specific examples that tested us and showed us what it takes to come out on top in those situations, and I think we all learned a lot from them.”

The Tigers have completed their extensive pre-season campaign with a 12-7 record. Princeton has had tremendous moments thus far, beating Brown twice and dominating league rival Maryland, but has also had its share of struggles. Looking forward, the Tigers need to be more consistent and put the ball in the back of the net, which sounds simple, but is often a difficult thing to do in water polo. Princeton begins league play this weekend in Lewisburg, Pa., against Bucknell.

“We are definitely ready to get started with league play,” Brunner said. “We played the tough teams in California so we can be better prepared for these games. While we may not have gotten all the wins we wanted on our trip, what’s important is that we use those games and our mistakes to build and win when it really counts.”