BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Player of the Game Chelsea Johnson (Jr., Miami, Fla./Ransom Everglades) scored twice and sister/goalie/Olympic Gold Medalist Ashleigh Johnson (Sr., Miami, Fla./Ransom Everglades) made seven saves as the No. 9-ranked Princeton University Tigers will return to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship title game for the fifth time in the past six seasons after taking an 8-7 win versus the No. 15 Hawks of Hartwick College in the semifinals of the 2017 CWPA Championship at Indiana University’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
The 2000, 2012, 2013 and 2015 CWPA Champion Tigers (24-3, 9-1 CWPA) will make their eighth title game appearance as Princeton fell to Indiana (11-10 L in 2014 at Bucknell University), Hartwick (8-6 L in 2007 at Princeton) and Brown University (11-10 L OT SD in 2001 at Brown), while claiming the 2000 (6-4 W vs. University of Massachusetts at Princeton), 2012 (6-5 W vs. University of Maryland at Brown), 2013 (7-5 W at Michigan) and 2015 (7-6 W at Princeton) crowns. However, Princeton has advanced to only three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships as the tournament did not begin until the year following the Tigers’ 2000 title run.
The Tigers will face the victor of the other semifinal pitting No. 7/defending league champion the University of Michigan and No. 20 Harvard University. A Michigan-Princeton final would mark the second time the two warhorse programs have met for the league crown as Princeton downed the host Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by a 7-5 count in 2013. A Princeton-Harvard title tilt would pit two Ivy League institutions for the title for the first time since Brown topped the Tigers 11-10 in sudden death overtime in Providence, R.I.
Squaring off with longtime nemesis Hartwick (23-10, 7-3 CWPA) for a shot at either the Wolverines or the Crimson, Princeton needed to build an early lead and hang on behind the defensive efforts of Ashleigh and the offense of Chelsea to make it back to the title tilt.
Princeton never trailed in the game as Morgan Hallock (Sr., Westlake Village, Calif./Harvard-Westlake School) torched the Hawks for a score to jump in front 1-0 with 6:29 left in the first quarter. Hartwick answered at 3:34 with a man-up strike by Charlotte Cottle (Jr., Blakehurst, Australia/Presbyterian Ladies College) off an assist from Lauren Brennan (Jr., Canberra, Australia/St. Clares College), but Eliza Britt (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) answered back by burying a dish from Lindsey Kelleher (So., South Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic) on a Princeton man-up bid with 2:36 remaining in the frame to make it 2-1.
The Hawks erased their deficit prior to the conclusion of the first quarter as Nikolina Mihaljovik (Jr., Mississauga, Ontario/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) banged a ball into the cage with three seconds remaining to deadlock the teams at two-all.
Princeton pulled away for good to start the second quarter as Sydney Cheong (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) and Chelsea Johnson put away back-to-back natural tallies with 6:01 and 3:59 to go until halftime, respectively, before Kelleher cashed in an assist from Haley Wan (Jr., Irvine, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) on a power-play opportunity at 1:23 to hand the Tigers a 5-2 lead.
Hartwick chopped a goal off its deficit prior to the halftime horn as Brennan finished a centering pass from Zsofia Polak (Jr., Dunaujvaros, Hungary/Rudas) to convert a six-on-five chance with 22 ticks on the clock to set the scoreboard at 5-3 going into the break.
The Hawks made the game interesting in the third quarter as Polak polished off an assist from Katie McKenty (Jr., Auckland, New Zealand/Takapuna Grammar School) at the 5:27 mark to bring Hartwick to the cusp of retying Princeton at 5-4.
However, Cheong (2:52) and Britt (51 seconds) ticked off back-to-back unassisted strikes to take the lead out to a 7-4 margin.
Once again, the Hawks came back as Mihaljovik notched a man-up goal (17 seconds) to close the third quarter and Lena Kotanchyan (Fr., Moscow, Russia/Elk Island School #368) flushed a feed from Polak (5:31) to begin the fourth quarter to move Hartwick back within one at 7-6.
Needing some offense to stutter Hartwick’s momentum, Chelsea Johnson delivered the damage by unleashing a power-play shot off a pass from Kelleher at 5:10 for the eventual game-winner and an 8-6 lead.
Hartwick tried to battle back as Polak put away a pass from Brennan with 3:23 to go, but the Princeton defense in front of Ashleigh Johnson stiffened and the three-time CWPA Championship Tournament First Team goalie (2013, 2014, 2015) came up golden down the stretch to permit the Tigers to escape with an 8-7 victory.
For Princeton, Chelsea Johnson, Cheong and Britt each scored twice, with Kelleher and Hallock accounting for the remainder of their team’s offense in support of a seven save performance by Ashleigh Johnson.
Hartwick, which will face the loser of the Michigan-Harvard semifinal at Noon on April 30 for Third Place, used pairs of goals by Mihaljovik and Polak to hang with Princeton. Cottle, Brennan and Kotanchyan also scored, while Josette Santos (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) suffered the loss with seven saves.
The Hawks will aim to equal their best mark in recent history as the team has placed third (2015), fourth (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016) and sixth (2012) since 2009 after finishing first (2006, 2007) and second (2008, 2009) in the four preceding seasons.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| No. 15 Hartwick College (23-10, 7-3 CWPA) |
2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | 7 |
| No. 9 Princeton University (24-3, 9-1 CWPA) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | 8 |
Princeton Goals: Chelsea Johnson (2); Sydney Cheong (2); Eliza Britt (2); Lindsey Kelleher; Morgan Hallock
Hartwick Goals: Nikolina Mihaljovik (2); Zsofia Polak (2); Charlotte Cottle; Lauren Brennan; Lena Kotanchyan
Saves: Princeton – Ashleigh Johnson (7) ; Hartwick – Josette Santos (7)
Exclusions: Princeton – 8 ; Hartwick – 4
Advantage Opportunities: Princeton – 3-for-4 ; Hartwick – 4-for-8
Sprints: Princeton – 0-for-4 ; Hartwick – 4-for-4
Cards: YC – Princeton (Head coach Luis Nicolao, 6:08 left in 4th Quarter)
Officials: Michael Goldenberg, Scott Voltz
Hartwick College’s Katie McKenty prepares to fire as Princeton University’s Eliza Britt (#10) and Haley Wan (#3) defend
Princeton University’s Eliza Britt looks for an opening as Hartwick College’s Tori Wilson defends
