Undefeated at home: men’s water polo dominates the Princeton Invitational

Eight games into the season, the No. 12 Princeton men’s water polo (8–0 overall, 0–0 Northeast Water Polo Conference) is yet to be challenged. Five of those wins came from this past weekend in DeNunzio Pool, where the Tigers hosted their Princeton Invitational.

Princeton opened Friday against St. Mary’s College of California (5–6, 0–0 West Coast Conference) before taking on the then-unbeaten Navy (7–1, 1–0 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference) and San Jose State (4–3, 0–0 West Coast Conference). The Tigers finished Sunday off with Pepperdine (4–6, 0–0 West Coast Conference) and Mt. St. Mary’s (3–4, 0–1 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference).

Tigers bury the Gaels behind after a six-goal opening quarter

The Tigers set the tone immediately on Friday, scoring six times in the first quarter over St. Mary’s, a program playing for the first season in its history. Princeton remained dominant throughout the game, and 10 different Tigers found the back of the net.

Princeton racked up points early from the man advantage. In the first, the Gaels took five exclusions, and the Tigers converted on four of them through sophomore utility Otto Stothart, junior utility Gavin Appeldorn, sophomore attacker Taylor Bell, and first-year utility Oliver Marcin. Several back-and-forths ended the quarter, with a late Gael penalty shot cutting the Princeton lead to three.

However, in the following quarters, the Tigers struggled to maintain the momentum, going 1-for-9 on the power plays.

The Gaels took advantage of this setback in the second quarter as attacker Donovan Swann cut the deficit to 6–5.

Luckily, senior utility Finn LeSieur answered just moments later, and the Gaels struggled to come back since, ending the game at 15–8.

“Everyone is unselfish and constantly looking for the best opportunity,” Marcin told The Daily Princetonian. “Our coaches have also built a style of play around that kind of trust and teamwork, while giving us the confidence to read the game and pursue opportunities when we see them.”

Intense one-goal escape against the Navy

On Saturday morning, the Tigers were ready to continue adding onto their win streak. However, the Navy proved to be their toughest opponent at the Invitational.

In the first half, Bell struck the first Tiger point on a penalty shot and recorded a hat trick as the Orange and Black built up a four-point lead at 10–6. Additionally, sophomore goalkeeper Pierre du Plessis, marking his first start of the season, turned aside eight shots.

As halftime ended, the Navy sought to turn the tide. In the third, the Navy answered back with a 4–2 run, and in the fourth, they pulled within one on three occasions: once at 12–11, another at 13–12, and finally at 15–14.

With just two minutes left on the clock, the Tigers continued to push back harder, finding a response to every Navy goal. With the final Princeton goal by junior attacker Ádám Peocz, the Tigers narrowly defeated the Navy, 16–15.

“I was reminding the field players that despite focusing on the better players, we cannot entirely slack off on the others,” du Plessis told the ‘Prince.’ “Every player in the pool earned the right to be there, and we should not disregard their potential to win the game for their team.”

Shorthanded win against San Jose State

After a hard-fought victory, the Tigers faced a similar challenge against the Spartans. In the first two quarters alone, the Tigers struggled to break out, trading goals with the Spartans and never leading by more than a single goal.

Moreover, the Orange and Black played mostly shorthanded as Marcin picked up his third exclusion in the first, disqualifying him for the rest of the match. Filling in on the offense, Bell scored a hat trick in the remainder of the first, followed by a fourth goal during a power play to put Princeton up 7–6. 

After the break, the Tigers opened the second half with a 4–0 run to take the lead 10–6. However, the Spartans clawed their way back to one at 11–10 early in the fourth.

But with combined efforts from Peocz, Stothart, and LeSieur, each finishing with three goals, the Tigers closed it out 15–11.

“We prepared well and knew that they liked to fire the ball from the outside,” Kristof Kovács told the ‘Prince.’ “The guys did a great job covering inside water, and it was a great team effort that lasted the entire game.”

Tigers pull through a Pepperdine surge

Opening Sunday against No. 9 Pepperdine, the Tigers faced their first higher-ranked opponent of the tournament.

After trading six goals in an intense 3–3 first quarter, the Tigers shut down the Waves in the second as junior attacker Enrique Nuño scored two goals for a 5–3 Tiger lead.

Princeton widened the gap to 8–4 midway through the third with goals from Stothart, Peocz, and first-year utility Tibi Cojocariu. Unwilling to surrender, Pepperdine answered back with four straight goals, tying the game at 8–8.

With one final push, sophomore attacker Andrew Li put Princeton back ahead, and two goals from LeSieur and another from Nuño sealed the game at 12–9.

Tigers end the Invitational with their fifth win

Closing out the Invitational, the Tigers buried the Mountaineers in the opening minutes. Junior attacker Tas Palcza opened with back-to-back goals, ending the game with six. Junior utility Teddy Rountree-Shtulman also recorded a hat trick, and nine Tigers scored in all.

“The team’s mentality was the same throughout the weekend: bring energy,” Kovács replied to the ‘Prince.’ “We were hyping each other up right from the warm-up, but we also worked really hard during the preseason to be able to maintain such a high level of intensity through multiple games. Adding coffee on top of that, and we swept the weekend.”

Princeton is off to Palo Alto, Calif. this Friday for the MPSF Invitational, looking to extend the win streak to double digits.

Andrew Kang is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’

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