PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Enrique Nuno (So., Madrid, Spain/IES Ortega y Gassett) scored four times to earn Player of the Game status and lead the way as No. 1 seed/No. 14-ranked Princeton University pounced on No. 5 seed/Division III No. 10 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 17-7, in the first semifinal at the 2025 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship hosted by Brown University.
The 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 NWPC/1992, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2015 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion Tigers (22-9) advance to the program’s eighth consecutive conference title game as Princeton previously made the 2017 (12-11 OT SD L vs. Harvard University at Harvard), 2018 (12-10 W vs. Harvard at Brown), 2019 (8-7 L vs. Harvard at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)), 2021 (9-6 W vs. St. Francis College Brooklyn at Princeton), 2022 (13-8 W vs. St. Francis College Brooklyn at Brown), 2023 (8-5 W vs. Harvard at Harvard) and 2024 (17-6 W vs. Brown at Princeton) tilts. The 2020 season was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Princeton – which will have a chance to break the all-time record for most consecutive championships by an East Coast men’s program shared by Bucknell University (1977-to-1989) and the University of Massachusetts (1993-to-1996) at four – dominated the Engineers in the game to add another victory onto the squad’s schedule following 20-10 (October 4 at Princeton) and 19-10 (November 9 at MIT) regular season dispatches of the Engineers.
Nuno put the Tigers ahead to stay just 36 seconds into the game as the Spanish sophomore bullrushed the MIT defense for a goal (7:24) prior to putting another opportunity away at 5:35 to place Princeton in front at 2-0.
Rick Lundh (Jr., Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) converted a six-on-five opportunity at 5:17 to put the Engineers on the scoreboard, but back-to-back-to-back man-up strikes by Tas Palcza (So., Huntington Beach, Calif./JSerra Catholic) (4:36), Gavin Appeldorn (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) (3:25) and Logan McCarroll (Sr., Laguna Beach, Calif./Mater Dei) (32 seconds) expanded the Princeton lead to 5-1. William Ewald (Jr., Greenwich, Conn./Brunswick) trimmed MIT’s deficit down to 5-2 prior to the termination of the first quarter by finishing a power-play bid at the buzzer.
Consecutive man-up markers by Finn LeSieur (Jr., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) (6:01) and Nathan Banos (So., Corona del Mar, Calif./Mater Dei) (4:51) started the second quarter and inflated the Tigers’ margin to 7-2. Ewald (4:10, man-up) and Victor Perez (Jr., Key Biscayne, Fla./Ransom Everglades) (3:16) shrank the Engineers’ deficit to 7-4.
The teams traded goals from there as Luke Johnston (Sr., Menlo Park, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) (2:26, man-up) and Nuno (one second, man-up) scored to bookend consecutive tallies by Lundh (1:11) and Caspar Lightner (Fr., San Diego, Calif./The Bishop’s School) (23 seconds, man-up) to set the scoreboard at 9-6 in favor of the four-time defending NWPC Champions entering halftime.
LeSieur opened the third quarter with another man-up goal 35 seconds into the frame (7:25) and Lightner responded by cashing in a six-on-five bid (5:40) to keep the spread between the squads at three (10-7).
Otto Stothart (Fr., Studio City, Calif./Harvard-Westlake), McCarroll and Nuno brought the curtain down on the third quarter as the Tigers’ trio torqued in natural tallies at 4:31, 2:34 and 1:52, respectively, to gash MIT for a 13-7 lead after 24 minutes of action.
Princeton’s run continued for the duration of the fourth quarter to the game’s final horn as Stothart (6:12, man-up), LeSieur (4:19, penalty shot), Tigran Sennett (Jr., Johannesburg, South Africa/St. Johns College of South Africa) (2:31) and Banos (21 seconds, man-up) dented the twine as the Tigers finished the contest on a 7-0 surge to claim a 10-score victory.
For Princeton – which will return to the pool for the title game at Noon on Sunday, November 23, against the winner of a semifinal matching the host/No. 3 seed/No. 19 Bears of Brown and No. 2 seed/No. 18 Harvard – Nuno (four), LeSieur (three), Stothart (two), Banos (two) and McCarroll (two) posted multi-goal games to combine for 13 of the Tigers’ 17 scores. Johnston, Appeldorn, Sennett and Palcza each chipped in single tallies.
MIT – which will face the loser of the Brown-Harvard game at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 23, for Third Place – received pairs of goals from Ewald, Lundh and Lightner to accompany a solo score by Perez.
The Engineers are guaranteed to post the program’s all-time best finish at a conference championship no matter the outcome against either Brown or Harvard. In the history of the team, MIT previously placed Fifth (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024) and Sixth (2017, 2022) at the NWPC Championship after claiming Eighth (2004, 2012), Seventh (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015), Sixth (2003, 2010) and 10th (2014) at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Eastern Championship prior to the creation of the NWPC and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Division III No. 10 Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 7 |
| No. 14 Princeton University | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | – | 17 |
| Princeton Goals: | Enrique Nuno (4); Finn LeSieur (3); Otto Stothart (2); Nathan Banos (2); Logan McCaroll (2); Luke Johnston; Gavin Appeldorn; Tigran Sennett; Tas Palcza | |||||
| MIT Goals: | William Ewald (2); Rick Lundh (2); Caspar Lightner (2); Victor Perez | |||||
| Exclusions: | Princeton – 14 ; MIT – 15 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Princeton – 11-for-15 ; MIT – 5-for-14 | |||||
| Sprints: | Princeton – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) ; MIT – 1-for-4 (4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Stephanie Villalobos, Alex High | |||||
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Caspar Lightner (#5)
Princeton University’s Finn LeSieur (#7)
Princeton University’s Enrique Nuno (#12)
