LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The No. 9-ranked Princeton University men’s water polo team rolled over Division III No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, 16-7, and clipped No. 8 the University of California-Irvine, 16-15, to reach the Ninth Place game of the 2025 Overnght MPSF Invitational hosted by the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC).
Taking on the Stags of CMS to start the day, the Tigers got going quickly with a goal from Otto Stothart less than 30 seconds into the contest. Princeton then went on a 4-0 run before Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was able to find the back of the cage for the program’s only tally of the quarter.
The pace continued to pick up with four goals from four different Tigers in the second quarter as Princeton held a 10-3 lead by halftime.
CMS could not find a response for Princeton as the Tigers put up six more goals in the second half to get their first victory of the 2025 Overnght MPSF Invitational.
The Tigers had 10 different goal scorers in the contest led by a hat trick from Logan McCarroll. Finn LeSieur, Adam Peocz, William Swart and Stothart each accounted for pairs of goals, while Gavin Appeldorn, Nathan Banos, Taylor Bell, Enrique Nuño and JP Ohl notched solo markers.
Goalkeepers Kristóf Kovács (12 saves) and Pierre du Plessis (two saves) combined for 14 saves in helping to turn back CMS.
In a battle of Top 10 teams, Princeton trailed throughout the game against UC-Irvine and leading just once as Appeldorn lobbed a ball over the Anteaters’ keeper at the buzzer to complete a comeback.
UC-Irvine scored twice to kick off the matchup before Bell converted a man-up goal for Princeton’s first strike.
Then the back and forth started as the two teams traded shots and goals to sit tied at six-all after the first frame.
LeSieur scored his second goal of the game to give the Tigers a lead but the Anteaters responded with three straight goals.
McCarroll added his name to the stat sheet with a tally, but the Anteaters again had an answer by scoring twice to acquire a three-goal advantage after two quarters of action.
After allowing 12 goals in the first half, Kovács and the defense dialed in to hold UC-Irvine to just three goals in the second half, including just one in a crucial fourth quarter.
Trailing by as many as four goals, Princeton rallied back as Stothart scored to spark the comeback effort followed by a goal from Peocz.
As the score stood at 14-13 in favor of the Anteaters, Princeton continued to sway the momentum in its favor.
Bell scored back to back marks to knot things up at 15-all and give the freshman a new career high four goals.
Princeton and UC-Irvine each looked to break the tie to close out the game. However, both teams missed shots with less than a minute remaining.
With just seconds left on the clock, Appeldorn caught a Hail Mary pass from Kovács and lobbed the ball over the UC-Irvine keeper at the buzzer for the win.
Bell (four), LeSieur (two), Tas Palcza (two), Peocz (two) and Stothart (two) recorded multi-goal games with Appeldorn, Luke Johnston, McCarroll and Ohl each scores once to support a 10 save performance by Kovács.
Information courtesy Princeton University Athletics Communications
