Princeton Men’s Water Polo Looks to Repeat Success of Previous Season

Even before classes started, the Princeton men’s water polo team got off to a rolling start, achieving impressive wins in early-season games. The Tigers enter this season with high hopes, and even higher expectations, having come off a powerful 22-5 2015 season and having attained a national ranking of 11 in the CWPA national poll. While coming up short against water polo powerhouses such as Cal and UCLA, the Tigers continue to demonstrate their skill, grit, and ability to compete with bigger and more famous programs in the pool.

The men’s water polo team has had consistently strong showings in the pool, reaching the NCAA tournament semifinals in 2009 and 2011. Last year’s Tigers roared to a powerful 22-5 record, claiming the CWPA championship title over Johns Hopkins, before falling 12-7 to UC San Diego in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Their success earned them a No. 10 ranking in the national poll, the second-best finish ever for the program; the Tigers were the only non-Californian school to crack the vaunted top 10. With a hefty four CWPA championship titles and a history of NCAA tournament appearances, the Tigers had successfully established themselves as a powerhouse in men’s water polo.

The Princeton squad did suffer from graduation, losing three vaunted seniors. Utility Bradley Watchell, who also won the Scott A.C. Roche Memorial Water Polo Award, was a perennial starter with 17 career goals as a Tiger. Utility Jamie Kuprenas, both a prolific scorer and talented defensive player, was named to the all-CWPA Southern team and led the team with a career total of 95 assists. Perhaps Princeton most dramatically felt the loss of center Thomas Nelson, who led the team with a career total of 199 goals, 72 of which occurred in his senior season, and earnedhonorable mention All-American status for his efforts.

But despite the departures, the Tigers still abound in both manpower and talent. They return, among others, two-time honorable mention All-American Vojislav Mitrovic, a junior goalie with a stellar .602 save percentage, All-CWPA Southern second team member senior utility Jovan Jeremic, and junior attack Jordan Colina, who was the second-leading scorer on last year’s squad behind Nelson. Add to that five new highly-recruited players from the Class of 2020, and the Tigers are well on their way to rebuilding and surpassing the talent they lost to graduation.

The Tigers have already shown their potential for a promising season, cruising to four decisive victories in the Navy Invitational over Fordham (17-10), PSU Behrend (20-2), McKendree (18-6), and Salem International (25-8). Princeton saw more success in the past week’s Princeton Invitational hosted in DeNunzio Pool, netting wins over Wagner (14-10), Air Force (13-3), and 20th-ranked Santa Clara (13-8). The Tigers did suffer two defeats to top-ranked UCLA (18-9) and No. 3 Cal (18-8), despite hat tricks by Payne and Jeremic in the matches, respectively. The season is just beginning, however, leaving Princeton plenty of time to improve on its flaws and challenge both powerhouses later in the season.

Princeton men’s water polo team has consistently exceeded the high expectations imposed on it, distinguishing itself as one of the powerhouses in the sport and perhaps the preeminent program outside California. Its early showing in the 2016 season gives us no reason to doubt its further consistency and success as a program.