No. 19 Princeton University-vs.-Brown University Scoresheet (NWPC Championship Game 5)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Joan Coloma (Fr., Barcelona, Spain/Jesuites Casp) scored four times with single tallies in the first, second, third and fourth quarters to lead all scorers as No. 19-ranked Princeton University topped No. 19 Brown University, 16-10, in the semifinals of the 2019 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Via the victory, Princeton (16-14, 7-3 NWPC) earns a spot in the 2019 NWPC Championship title game at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 24, against No. 9/undefeated Harvard University. Due to the defeat, Brown (21-12, 6-4 NWPC) falls into the Third Place game where the Bears will battle St. Francis College Brooklyn.
Princeton never trailed in the game as the Tigers opened up a 1-0 lead 22 seconds into the game and slowly built the winning margin over the course of the contest’s 32 minutes of competition.
Coloma broke the ice for the Tigers by torquing in a tally at 7:38. Brown balanced the scoreboard at one-all at 6:16 courtesy a strike by Leo Berkman (Fr., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) prior to Princeton reacquiring the lead at 2-1 at the 5:05 mark via a successful man-up conversion by Pierce Maloney (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake). Berkman buried his second marker by putting away a man-up chance at 3:46 to once again square the score at two-all prior to Ryan Neapole (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) and Adam Fuller (Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) hitting the back of the cage for Princeton (2:58) and Brown (1:33), respectively, to make it three-all after eight minutes of action.
The Tigers pulled away in the first half of the second quarter as Wyatt Benson (So., Huntingdon Beach, Calif./Mater Dei), Coloma and Casey Conrad (Jr,, Lafayette, Calif./Acalanes) ticked off back-to-back-to-back goals at 7:29, 5:20 and 3:58, respectively, to provide Princeton a 6-3 lead. Armen Deirmenjian (Sr., Beverly Hills, Calif./Loyola) closed out the second quarter by notching a tally with 19 seconds left to cut the Bears’ deficit to 6-4 heading into halftime.
Coloma completed a hat-trick 28 seconds into the third quarter (7:32) to return the lead to three at 7-4 before Conrad (6:44, man-up) and Logan MacDonell (Sr., San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Prep) (4:51, even-strength) added insurance to expand the margin to 9-4.
2019 NWPC Rookie of the Year Cole Atwell (Fr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) trimmed a goal off the lead for Brown at 4:29, but Benson (4:02, even-strength), Keller Maloney (So., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) (3:28, man-up) and Yurian Quinones (Fr., Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) (2:14, man-up) netted three consecutive scores for the Tigers to take a 12-5 lead.
Will Collier (Sr., Darien, Conn./Hopkins School) pulled Brown back within a half-dozen at 12-6 with a man-up goal at 1:41, but Davis Wachtell (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) took advantage of a six-on-five opportunity with 42 seconds remaining to make it 13-6. James Thygesen (Sr., Menlo Park, Calif./Menlo School) finished out the third quarter by punching in a natural score for the Bears with 27 seconds on the clock to move Brown back within six at 13-7 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
The teams exchanged scores over the final quarter of play as Coloma (6:28), Pierce Maloney (4:04) and Mitchell Cooper (So., Newport Coast, Calif./Corona del Mar) (3:35) posted even-strength goals for Princeton, while Deirmenjian (6:15, man-up), Berkman (2:21, even-strength) and Stephen Salle (So., Chadds Ford, Pa./Malvern Prep) (28 seconds, man-up) accounted for the Bears’ three-marker output in recording the 16-10 final score.
For Princeton, Coloma (four), Conrad (two), Benson (two) and Pierce Maloney (two) registered multi-goal games. Cooper, Wachtell, Quinones, Neapole, MacDonell and Keller Maloney registered single scores in support of an 11 save effort by goalie Antonio Knez (Fr., Dubrovnik, Croatia/Gimnazia Dubrovnik).
Brown received three goals from Berkman and a pair by Deirmenjian to accompany single points by Salle, Thygesen, Collier, Atwell and Fuller. Goalie Riad Hallal (Jr., Coronado, Calif./Coronado) took the loss with five saves.
The title and Third Place games will mark the third consecutive year Harvard-Princeton and Brown-St. Francis Brooklyn will make-up final two games on the third day of the NWPC Championship.
In 2017 at Harvard, the Crimson dispatched Princeton by a 12-11 score in sudden death overtime for the crown, while Brown topped St. Francis Brooklyn, 11-9, for Third Place. Last year, Princeton shocked Harvard, 12-10, at Brown after the host Bears dropped a 13-9 game to the Terriers in the Third Place clash.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Brown University | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | – | 10 |
| No. 19 Princeton University | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | – | 16 |
| Princeton Goals: | Joan Coloma (4); Casey Conrad (2); Wyatt Benson (2); Pierce Maloney (2); Mitchell Cooper; Davis Wachtell; Yurian Quinones; Ryan Neapole; Logan MacDonell; Keller Maloney | |||||
| Brown Goals: | Leo Berkman (3); Armen Deirmenjian (2); Stephen Salle; James Thygesen; Will Collier; Cole Atwell; Adam Fuller | |||||
| Saves: | Princeton – Antonio Knez (11) ; Brown – Riad Hallal (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Princeton – 10 ; Brown – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Princeton – 5-for-8 ; Brown – 4-for-10 | |||||
| Sprints: | Princeton – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; Brown – 1-for-4 (1st) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Princeton – YC (Wyatt Benson, 7:29 left in 2nd Q), YC (Head coach Dustin Litvak, 2:04 left in 2nd Q) ; Brown – YC (Head coach Felix Mercado, 4:51 left in 2nd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Hadi Farid ; Michael Goldenberg | |||||
Princeton University’s Kyle MacMillan (#8) unloads a shot against Brown University’s James Tygesen (#5)
Brown University’s Leo Berkman (#2) attempts to elude Princeton University’s Wyatt Benson (#14)
