CWPA championship loss fuels fire for Princeton Water Polo

Right out of DeNunzio Pool, the men’s water polo team has been off to the races with the start of its 2014 fall season. Opening up with big wins in addition to a sweep of the Princeton Invitational, the Tigers have big goals for this upcoming year. Last week, after sweeping the Bruno Fall Classic and beating the then 8th-ranked team University of California, Irvine, the Tigers have tied for 8thin the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll. This is the highest ranking the team has achieved since its No. 9 ranking in 2006.

The men’s water polo team has traditionally been a successful team; it is working to build upon its Ivy League Championship 3rd-place finish in the Southern tournament and its 2nd-place finish last year in the CWPA championship. This year, the team hopes to be in a position to win the CWPA Championship.

“Every year to play for the eastern championship, it takes a lot of luck to get into that game. Our goal this year is to be there and to win,” Coach Luis Nicolao said. “It’s a long season and a long process.”

This year, the Tigers are fortunate to have a lot of depth. Senior Drew Hoffenberg has been named captain for the second year this year, and senior Kayj Shannon is captain for his first year. Coach Nicolao has emphasized how important the role of the captain is on his team.

“Leadership is huge. You need to have good leadership to have a good team.” Nicolao explained. “It’s [the captains’] job to make sure the freshmen are doing well and that we’re coming together as a team. I only see them for two hours a day; it’s their job to be on top of team chemistry.”

From Hoffenberg and Shannon to the five new freshmen on the team, everyone is expected to make big plays in the upcoming season. The rookies have already made impressive starts this season, proving to be big players in both the Princeton Invitational as well as the Bruno Fall Classic. However, the key to their year is not their opponent, but self-improvement.

“We’re not to focused on the opponent. Our focus is on what we’re doing poorly and what we’re doing well.” Coach Nicolao said. “The key to success is a lot of depth. There is no focus on one person. Every day, someone else steps up and when it comes to the end of the season, the key is that everybody steps up at the same time.”

In the next few weeks, the Tigers will continue to build upon their big start to the season with more league play. They will be playing George Washington University and Bucknell University this coming Sunday, and the United States Naval Academy the week after. With an 8-1 record, the Tigers have been working well as a team, racking up some large victories to begin the year.

“In general, everyone has been good so far on pressing the attack from the defense,” junior Thomas Nelson said. “We’ve also done well adjusting not having Kayj, but hopefully we will see him back soon.”

A big highlight of the men’s season is the SoCal tournament. This tournament puts the Princeton Tigers against some of the top-ranked teams on the West Coast. The Tigers have already proven themselves as contenders among the teams from the West, topping UC Irvine in the first few matches of the season.

“Every year our biggest benchmarks is the SoCal tournament.” Nelson said. “This year we were lucky enough this year to play against UC Irvine.”

With just the start of the season behind them, the Tigers still have a long season ahead of them and look forward to the challenges that lie ahead. However, their future looks bright; this is the third time they have opened their season with six consecutive victories and the highest ranking by a men’s team in the modern era (post-2006).