Tigers takes third at Southerns after loss to Midshipmen

The men’s water polo team finished third at the Southern Division Championships this weekend, beating Mercyhurst 9-7 in the third place game on Sunday. The game was marked by an outstanding display of defensive resilience by sophomore goalkeeper Alex Gow, who, with a season-high 17 saves, played a crucial part in containing the offensive might of Mercyhurst.

The Tigers’ (19-5 overall, 7-0 Southern) semifinals game ended in a heartbreaking 12-10 loss to Navy (17-14, 2-6) on Saturday night. Prior to the defeat, the Tigers had gone on a five-game unbeaten run and were the favorites to reclaim the crown they last won in 2011. By virtue of being the top seed, the Tigers got a bye in the first round of the championship and advanced to the semifinals courtesy of a 15-8 thrashing of Gannon (11-9, 4-2). The fifth seeded Navy on the other hand, had to overcome a tough challenge from No. 4 seed Johns Hopkins to seal its place in the semifinals with an 11-9 win.

Princeton started out strong, taking a 1-0 lead in the first quarter. However, the Midshipmen stormed back in the second quarter with a onslaught: four goals in response to the Tigers’ two to give Navy a slender one-goal lead into halftime. Navy extended its lead over Princeton by another point in the third quarter. The final quarter saw as many as 10 goals being shared equally by the two sides, with Princeton making a desperate attempt to get back into a contest that was steadily slipping away from the Tigers.

Junior Kayj Shannon scored three goals, and the trio of sophomore Thomas Nelson, junior Drew Hoffenberg and freshman utility Jovan Jeremic added two goals each. Junior Sam Butler contributed with two assists and three steals, and Gow made nine saves.

The playoff against Mercyhurst started in a somewhat similar manner, with a low-scoring first quarter producing only one goal each for the two sides.

But Princeton took off in the second quarter, scoring six goals. Mercyhurst retaliated but could only breach Gow’s defense on two occasions. At halftime, the score favored Princeton 7-3. After the third quarter ended, with Princeton extending its lead by another point to 8-3, it seemed as if the Tigers had all but sealed their victory. The Lakers, however, fought back hard, scoring four goals and conceding just one. But the four-point deficit that Mercyhurst saw at halftime proved to be too much to overcome, and the Tigers came away with a victory. Nelson added three goals, Shannon added one, Hoffenberg contributed two and Jeremic scored once. Sophomore Jamie Kuprenas added two goals. The assists tally was led by Hoffenberg, Butler and senior Kurt Buchbinder, all recording two assists each.

The Tigers now have a two-week break before the CWPA Championships at Brown from Nov. 22-24, where Princeton will play for a berth in the NCAA tournament.