PRINCETON, N.J. — The No. 16 Princeton University women’s water polo team earned two Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) victories on Senior Day at DeNunzio Pool as the Tigers tormented No. 10 University of Michigan, 9-8, and Saint Francis University, 18-10, to earn at least the No. 2 seed for the CWPA Championship on Friday-Sunday, April 10-12, at Michigan.
Courtesy the wins, Princeton joins Michigan in rating at 5-1 in league competition, while No. 11 Harvard University – which did not appear at Princeton due to non-conference road games in California – holds a 4-1 mark.
The No. 1-to-4 seeds for the CWPA Championship will be decided based on the outcome of a match-up in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, April 4, as No. 22 Brown University hosts Harvard. A win by Brown over Harvard will seed Princeton No. 1, Michigan No. 2, Brown No. 3 and Harvard No. 4 due to Princeton holding a head-to-head win versus Michigan and Brown then holding a head-to-head defeat of Harvard. However, if Harvard defeats Brown, then Harvard, Princeton and Michigan all hold 5-1 marks, while Brown slips to 3-3 and claims the No. 4 seed. The tie between Harvard, Princeton and Michigan is broken by goal differential in their meetings with one another. Since Michigan defeated Harvard (14-13) and Princeton knocked off Michigan (9-8), Harvard claims the No. 1 seed in that case due to defeating Princeton 8-5. Princeton will then take the No. 2 seed due to its head-to-head victory over Michigan.
Princeton did its part to make the final day of CWPA regular season competition matter more than most by handing Michigan its lone conference loss of the season.
After a scoreless first quarter, the two conference foes exchanged four goals before a strike by Olivia Krotts gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead heading into halftime.
Michigan tied the game to begin the second half. Even at four-all, Kendall Wyer put head coach Derek Ellingson‘s team ahead as the final 10 minutes started.
The Wolverines did not go away as they tied the game twice, making it six-all with five minutes remaining.
However, Vivian Golub registered consecutive tallies at 3:59 and 3:19 to put Princeton in front for good.
Michigan got one back, but Emese Batizi responded with 2:34 on the clock to keep the road team at bay.
The Maize & Blue closed the gap to one with 1:52 to go, but Princeton kept its conference foe off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
In a team affair that saw Krotts, Batizi, Golub and Wyer each score twice with Didi Evans tossing in a solo tally, it was the play of goalkeeper Lindsey Lucas that proved decisive as the senior stopped 11 shots to knock-off a Top 10 foe and keep the Tigers’ hopes of a regular season title alive.
Facing Saint Francis in both teams’ regular second conference finale, Princeton’s offense ripped off four of the first five goals before holding a 4-2 advantage after eight minutes.
The Red Flash burned the Tigers with a run to cut its deficit to 5-4 as the clock read 6:06 to go in the first half. However, SFU did not score again until the 2:07 mark of the third quarter. During that time, the Tigers registered nine consecutive goals to go up 14-4.
Leading by as many as 10 before settling for an 18-10 victory, Princeton clinched at worst the No. 2 seed for the CWPA Championship with Saint Francis locking up the No. 7 position.
Shanna Davidson and Charlotte Riches each snagged four goals in snuffing the Red Flash. Evans (three), Wyer (two), Katie McCullough (two), Krotts (two) and Ava Houlahan also dented the twin in the victory.
Prior to the Saint Francis game, the Tigers honored their Class of 2026 of Davidson, Lucas and Houlahan. That trio has won 94 games during their time with the Orange & Black and have gone 34-4 in the CWPA with a pair of league championships (2022, 2023).
Information courtesy Princeton University Athletics Communications
