CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The No. 6-ranked Princeton University men’s water polo team collected a split during a Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) doubleheader as the Tigers downed Division III No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 16-11, and fell in sudden death overtime to No. 13 Harvard University, 14-13.
Facing MIT, the Tigers scored five times in the first quarter, holding a 5-1 lead. Princeton put the contest out of reach with seven tallies in the second frame, taking a 12-3 advantage into the break. The Tigers scored four times in the second half to outdistance the Engineers.
West Temkin recorded 13 saves in the win.
Vladan Mitrovic, Roko Pozaric, Will Garlinghouse and Tigran Sennett notched pairs of goals, while George Caras, William Swart, Gavin Molloy, Mason Killion, Finn LeSieur, Luke Johnston, Pierce Maloney and Isaac Rotenberg tacked on solo markers.
The Tigers suffered their first conference loss of the season against Harvard as the Crimson scored in sudden death overtime to take a 14-13 thriller at home in Blodgett Pool.
Head coach Dustin Litvak‘s group trailed 11-8 with five minutes to go, but two straight goals by LeSieur got them within one.
Finally with 43 seconds to go, Princeton tied the game with a tally from Mitrovic. It marked the first time the score was tied since early in the first quarter.
Harvard scored in the first portion of overtime, but Maloney tied it as the second half of the extra session got started. After another Crimson tally, Caras evened the game at 13-all before the home team’s game-winner.
Princeton had five different multi-goal scorers in the loss.
If the Tigers and Crimson win-out over the remainder of their conference schedules, Princeton will claim the No. 1 seed based on goal differential as the squad topped Harvard by a 17-11 score on September 30 at DeNunzio Pool.
Information courtesy Princeton University Athletics Communications
