Women's Water Polo: Tigers win 2nd straight Easterns, earn NCAA tournament berth

For the second consecutive year, the No. 11 women's water polo team won the CWPA Eastern Championship, defeating the hosts No. 18 Michigan 7-5 in the title game. With the win, the Tigers (26-5 overall, 5-0 CWPA Southern) will make a return trip to the NCAA tournament after making their first-ever appearance last year.

Both Princeton and Michigan (20-14, 3-1 CWPA Western) got out to quick starts, with each team scoring three goals in the first period. From there the Tigers' defense shut down the Wolverines’ attack, while the offense scored three more goals to give Princeton a 6-3 lead going into the final period. Michigan’s comeback attempt added two goals, but the Tigers would counter with a goal of their own to put the game out of reach for the Wolverines.

Freshman goalie Ashleigh Johnson made 15 crucial saves in the winning effort, while sophomore utilities Camille Hooks, Jessie Holechek, Taylor Dunstan, junior utility Katie Rigler and senior center Saranna Soroka all scored for the Tigers. Johnson and Rigler were named to the all-tournament team, with Johnson also being selected as rookie of the tournament and Rigler as the MVP.

Rigler was vital to the Tigers in their semifinal match against No. 17 Hartwick College (29-13, 4-0 CWPA Northern). The junior scored four goals — including a last-minute goal in double-overtime to propel the Tigers into the title game against No. 18 Michigan, which had just upset Indiana, the tournament's number-one seed. Nonetheless, the thrilling victory over the Hawks was a team effort, as the Tigers needed to climb back from a 10-6 hole with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Rigler started the comeback with two back-to-back goals to bring the game within two with just over five minutes left on the clock. Holechek and senior attack Brittany Zwirner quickly followed up with a goal apiece to even the score at 10 with 2:24 to go. The Tigers were then able to hold off the Hawks thanks largely to the play of Soroka, who stole the ball and drew an ejection on Hartwick's Allison Kosich to break up the Hawks' possession and to send the game into overtime.

After a scoreless first overtime period, Holechek put the Tigers up 11-10 in the second overtime, but Hartwick responded just 18 seconds later with a goal of its own to tie the score again. Then, with a minute remaining, senior attack Rachele Gyorffy found a wide-open Rigler, who launched the ball into the right side of the cage to give the Tigers a lead they would not surrender.

Princeton's narrow win in the semifinal round came one day after the Tigers comfortably defeated George Washington in the first round of the tournament by a score of 16-3. Freshman utility Diana Murphy led the Tigers with four goals in that win and Johnson had 10 saves.

The Tigers will find out Monday night what team they will face in the first round of the NCAA tournament, which will take place from May 10-12 in Boston. Last year, when Princeton made the tournament for the first time in program history, they lost to No. 3 USC in the first round but defeated Iona in a consolation match before falling in the fifth-place game.