Saturday, November 18
Cambridge, Mass.
5:00 PM
Princeton University
vs
#14 Brown
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
No. 13 Princeton Ready For NWPC Tournament This Weekend
November 16, 2017 | Men's Water Polo
PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 13 Princeton Tigers will take part in the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Tournament this weekend at Blodgett Pool on the campus of Harvard University.
Princeton is the No. 1 seed in the NWPC after taking down No. 18 St. Francis-Brooklyn, 13-9, in the regular season finale. St. Francis-Brooklyn is the No. 2 seed, followed by Harvard, Brown, MIT and Iona. The Tigers will play the winner of Brown and MIT in the semifinals on Nov. 18 (5 p.m.). Each game will be streamed on the Ivy League Network.
If Princeton wins the conference championship, it will receive the NWPC's bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Luis Nicolao, who recently won his 400th game with the men's water polo program, has won four conference titles in his career (2004, 2009, 2011, 2015). The Tigers have won two NCAA Tournaments games, finishing third in 2009 and 2011.
Princeton has a high-powered offense that averages 12.7 goals per contest. The Tigers have four players with over 50+ goals in Jordan Colina (63), Sean Duncan (63), Matt Payne (59) and Michael Swart (51). Colina is one of six players ever to reach the 200-goal milestone. Colina and Duncan's 63 tallies are tied for the ninth most in a single-season in program history.
Ryan Wilson leads the team with 104 points and 82 assists this year. He has already set the single-season record with 82 assists this year and has the career record for assists with 168. Vojislav Mitrovic is 16-5 in goal with 268 saves and a .588 save percentage.
Stanford made the jump to No. 1 in the Varsity Poll, followed by Cal, UCLA, USC and Pacific. The Tigers are the top team in the NWPC in the poll. Brown (No. 14), Harvard (No. 15) and St. Francis-Brooklyn (No. 18) are right behind Princeton.
2017 began for Princeton with a tripleheader at the Navy Open. The Tigers dropped Salem International (21-9), Fordham (12-7), and LaSalle (15-8) before finishing off Navy, 17-11, the next day.
The Tigers had a 3-1 weekend at the Princeton Invitational the following week. Princeton defeated Chapman (15-6) and Johns Hopkins (9-5) before a victory over Santa Clara (16-9). On the last day of the Invitational, head coach Luis Nicolao's team fell in a close battle vs. No. 4 UCLA in a game shown on ESPNU.
Two weeks later, Princeton went 2-2 at the Mountain Pacific Invitational out in Los Angeles. Nicolao's squad lost a close one to No. 6 Long Beach State, 11-8, on the first day of the tournament before gathering a split the next day. They earned a 12-11 decision over No. 19 Pomona-Pitzer in overtime, but was taken down by No. 7 UC-Santa Barbara, 14-7. Colina's tally with 12 seconds remaining gave the Tigers a 15-14 win over No. 13 UC-San Diego to complete the West Coast trip.
NWPC play got started at DeNunzio on Sept. 30 with a closely-contested meeting vs. No. 11 Harvard. Payne's tally with 53 seconds to go proved to be the game-winner. On Oct. 1, the Tigers scored four consecutive goals in the second half to drop MIT, 13-11, before a 9-8 victory over No. 14 Brown.
Princeton also nabbed a non-conference victory over Wagner, 15-11, that featured hat tricks from Payne, Colina and Duncan.
The Tigers would also get a split on the road in NWPC action on Oct. 11, defeating the Iona Gaels, 12-6, before dropping a 13-10 decision to No. 12 St. Francis-Brooklyn Terriers.
Princeton rebounded with wins over George Washington (13-7), Wagner (14-11) and No. 18 Bucknell (12-7) at the Crimson Invitational.
Through the second go-around in conference play, the Tigers earned a win over MIT (Oct. 28) before a tough loss to Harvard. Duncan's double-overtime tally gave Princeton a thrilling 14-13 victory over Brown. Following a 17-9 win over Iona, Princeton finished the regular season with its 13-9 decision over St. Francis-Brooklyn.
Princeton is the No. 1 seed in the NWPC after taking down No. 18 St. Francis-Brooklyn, 13-9, in the regular season finale. St. Francis-Brooklyn is the No. 2 seed, followed by Harvard, Brown, MIT and Iona. The Tigers will play the winner of Brown and MIT in the semifinals on Nov. 18 (5 p.m.). Each game will be streamed on the Ivy League Network.
If Princeton wins the conference championship, it will receive the NWPC's bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Luis Nicolao, who recently won his 400th game with the men's water polo program, has won four conference titles in his career (2004, 2009, 2011, 2015). The Tigers have won two NCAA Tournaments games, finishing third in 2009 and 2011.
Princeton has a high-powered offense that averages 12.7 goals per contest. The Tigers have four players with over 50+ goals in Jordan Colina (63), Sean Duncan (63), Matt Payne (59) and Michael Swart (51). Colina is one of six players ever to reach the 200-goal milestone. Colina and Duncan's 63 tallies are tied for the ninth most in a single-season in program history.
Ryan Wilson leads the team with 104 points and 82 assists this year. He has already set the single-season record with 82 assists this year and has the career record for assists with 168. Vojislav Mitrovic is 16-5 in goal with 268 saves and a .588 save percentage.
Stanford made the jump to No. 1 in the Varsity Poll, followed by Cal, UCLA, USC and Pacific. The Tigers are the top team in the NWPC in the poll. Brown (No. 14), Harvard (No. 15) and St. Francis-Brooklyn (No. 18) are right behind Princeton.
2017 began for Princeton with a tripleheader at the Navy Open. The Tigers dropped Salem International (21-9), Fordham (12-7), and LaSalle (15-8) before finishing off Navy, 17-11, the next day.
The Tigers had a 3-1 weekend at the Princeton Invitational the following week. Princeton defeated Chapman (15-6) and Johns Hopkins (9-5) before a victory over Santa Clara (16-9). On the last day of the Invitational, head coach Luis Nicolao's team fell in a close battle vs. No. 4 UCLA in a game shown on ESPNU.
Two weeks later, Princeton went 2-2 at the Mountain Pacific Invitational out in Los Angeles. Nicolao's squad lost a close one to No. 6 Long Beach State, 11-8, on the first day of the tournament before gathering a split the next day. They earned a 12-11 decision over No. 19 Pomona-Pitzer in overtime, but was taken down by No. 7 UC-Santa Barbara, 14-7. Colina's tally with 12 seconds remaining gave the Tigers a 15-14 win over No. 13 UC-San Diego to complete the West Coast trip.
NWPC play got started at DeNunzio on Sept. 30 with a closely-contested meeting vs. No. 11 Harvard. Payne's tally with 53 seconds to go proved to be the game-winner. On Oct. 1, the Tigers scored four consecutive goals in the second half to drop MIT, 13-11, before a 9-8 victory over No. 14 Brown.
Princeton also nabbed a non-conference victory over Wagner, 15-11, that featured hat tricks from Payne, Colina and Duncan.
The Tigers would also get a split on the road in NWPC action on Oct. 11, defeating the Iona Gaels, 12-6, before dropping a 13-10 decision to No. 12 St. Francis-Brooklyn Terriers.
Princeton rebounded with wins over George Washington (13-7), Wagner (14-11) and No. 18 Bucknell (12-7) at the Crimson Invitational.
Through the second go-around in conference play, the Tigers earned a win over MIT (Oct. 28) before a tough loss to Harvard. Duncan's double-overtime tally gave Princeton a thrilling 14-13 victory over Brown. Following a 17-9 win over Iona, Princeton finished the regular season with its 13-9 decision over St. Francis-Brooklyn.
Players Mentioned
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
UTL
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