Only Harvard, Princeton and Brown have varsity water polo teams, while Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth, Yale and Columbia have club teams.
“We’re trying to gain some exposure, and we’re always hoping that a few more schools will add a team, so it’s exciting that we get to host it,” head coach Luis Nicolao said.
The last time No. 18 Princeton (13-8 overall, 6-2 CWPA Southern Division) faced Harvard (8-15) was early in the season in September when the Tigers won 14-9. The Tigers have yet to play Brown (14-8) this season.
As the defending CWPA Eastern champion, the Tigers are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, followed by Brown at No. 2 and Harvard at No. 3.
According to Nicolao, the weekend will be an opportunity for the players to get back to focusing on the season after the distraction of midterms this week, which is especially important because conference championships begin the weekend following the Ivy League matchup.
“We had seven guys at practice this morning, and everyone was kind of tired and stressed. It would be nice after midterms to be able to play water polo, so it’ll be fun this weekend,” Nicolao said Wednesday.
The Tigers are coming off high-scoring back-to-back wins against George Washington and Iona last weekend. Against both teams Princeton either doubled or even quadrupled its opponent’s score.
After a lag in practices and momentum due to midterms the following week, however, this tournament will be an enjoyable way to get players back into a competitive mindset. There is even a sentimental vibe the tournament, as it will be the last chance for Princeton seniors to compete in DeNunzio Pool.
“With midterms this week, we haven’t had practice in a couple days, so it’s just a nice change,” Nicolao said. “It’ll be the last home weekend for the seniors ... We can kind of use it as a get-over-midterms kind of thing.”
After the Ivy League championship, the Tigers will move on to the Southern Division Championships in Annapolis, Md., the following weekend. Those results will determine their seeding in the Eastern Championships, where the Princeton will play for a berth to the NCAA championships.
“It’s nice to have that week off of school so we can use this weekend to get some conditioning in, get some games in,” Nicolao said.
It will also be a good time for some players to heal. While there are no serious long-term injuries, freshman A.J Galainena has been out for the past week with strep throat, and sophomore Tommy Donahue is temporarily out with a concussion.
Nicolao maintained that the team’s traditional strengths have helped it get this far.
“We’ve got to rely on our defense,” Nicolao said. “[Senior goalie Mike] Merlone is playing really well. The games that we’re winning are low scoring, and even that Navy game that went into overtime went 7-6, so if we can continue to play defense I know our chances are good.”
If the Tigers keep up their pace from last weekend, they will have a chance to settle some losses during the season against traditional rivals at the Southern Division Championships.
“If we could match up against Navy again that would be great — and Bucknell, Brown and Johns Hopkins,” Nicolao said. “It determines the seeding for Easterns, so it’s going to be a great weekend for water polo.”
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