STOCKTON, Calif. — The No. 8-ranked Princeton University women’s water polo team defeated the No. 3 University of California Golden Bears, 11-9, at the University of the Pacific’s Chris Kjeldsen Pool at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center in advancing to the semifinals of the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship tournament for the first time in program history.
Princeton – which raised its record to 30-3 on the season with the victory over California – will take on No. 2 the University of Southern California (USC) at 10:00 p.m. Eastern/7:00 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, May 13, with a spot in the national championship game on the line. The other semifinal pits No. 1 Stanford University and No. 3 the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).
The Tigers became the first non-California school to make the Final Four in a non-COVID-19 impacted season since the University of Michigan defeated Arizona State University by a 5-4 score on Friday, May 13, 2016, at the UCLA’s Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles. The Wolverines dropped games to USC (9-6 L) and UCLA (5-4 L) in the team’s final games of the weekend to earn a Fourth Place finish in the tournament as the NCAA Championship played out the consolation games for the final time in 2016. In 2021, Arizona State defeated Michigan by a 9-5 score in the first round prior to suffering a 10-4 semifinal setback against USC. However, the 2021 featured a portion of the potential NCAA field with multiple institutions – including Princeton – electing not to compete during the regular and/or postseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Princeton, no matter the outcome in its next game versus USC, the Tigers are guaranteed to record the best finish in the history of the sport for a program outside California. Due to the NCAA not playing out the Third Place position, the two teams which lose in the semifinals tie for Third Place – meaning the Black & Orange will earn the highest finish in the history of the sport for an East Cost institution no matter the outcome versus the Trojans.
Following Fifth (2013) and Sixth (2012, 2015) place finishes at prior NCAA Championship tournaments, the Tigers put the Golden Bears behind early as Rachael Carver scored on the first possession for Princeton and later came up with another tally as the clock read 2:17 to go in the first frame. Lindsey Lucas kept Princeton in front with five stops in the first eight minutes.
Kate Mallery put the Tigers in front, 3-1, to begin the second quarter. Lucas stopped a five-meter chance before Kaila Carroll extended the lead for Princeton to three, 4-1.
Cal closed the gap to one with two consecutive goals, but 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jovana Sekulic scored on a feed from Carver to make it 5-3 with 2:33 remaining in the first half.
Mallery extended Princeton’s advantage to three, 6-3, with nine seconds to go in the first half.
Tallies from Carroll and Carver (her third of the game) pushed Princeton’s lead to four, 8-4, but Cal rebounded with two straight to cut the deficit in half with 2:39 left in the third stanza.
The Bears scored as time expired to end the third quarter to make it an 8-7 contest with eight minutes to go.
Kayla Yelensky scored twice to begin the fourth frame to get Princeton to double-digits with over six minutes to go. The Bears closed the gap to one with 2:30 left, but Mallery finished off a hat trick to complete the scoring. Lucas came up with two saves and a block after Mallery’s tally to keep the Bears off the scoreboard.
Carver led the Tigers with three goals and three assists while Mallery also had three goals. Lucas recorded 15 stops in the win. It’s the program’s first victory ever over Cal in seven contests.
The win moves the 2023 Tigers within one victory of tying the 2014 (31-2) and 2015 (31-5) squads for the most single-season wins in program history. To reach the mark, Princeton will need to make history once again as the team stands at 0-4 all-time against USC – including 0-1 in NCAA Championship competition – with prior games in 1998 (10-4 L at USC; March 18, 1998), 2012 (14-2 L at San Diego State University, NCAA Championship Quarterfinal; May 11, 2012), 2017 (12-3 L at USC; March 23, 2017) and 2018 (17-4 L at USC; March 22, 2018).
Historically, USC has not lost to a team named Stanford or UCLA since a 10-9 sudden victory overtime loss to Arizona State University on April 25, 2014, at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) tournament hosted by USC. The Trojans finished in Third Place at the NCAA Championship that year. Further, USC has not lost to a school other than either Stanford, UCLA or Arizona State since an 8-3 defeat on March 5, 2011, at California.
The last time USC lost to a team from outside California? It occurred on April 29, 2006, as Southern California fell to the University of Hawaii by a 10-9 count – although USC went on to finish second at the NCAA Championship.
Facing teams from the East Coast, USC has not lost to a team from the right coast since March 22, 1998, when the University of Massachusetts topped the Trojans by a 5-2 count during the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Tournament. In 1997, UMass also defeated Southern California by a 5-4 score in overtime on March 22 at the Pomona-Pitzer Tournament. The losses mark the only defeats of USC in women’s water polo competition by a school from the East Coast. Note, however, neither contest was an NCAA event as women’s water polo was not a recognized NCAA Championship sport until 2001.
Princeton University Women’s Water Polo History at NCAA Championship
- 2012 NCAA Tournament – San Diego State University, Aztec Aquaplex – San Diego, Calif.
- Quarterfinals (May 11) – vs. No. 2 University of Southern California – L, 14-2
- Consolation (May 12) – vs. Iona College – L, 9-5
- Fifth Place Game (May 13) – vs. No. 7 Loyola Marymount University – L, 15-11
- 2013 NCAA Tournament – Harvard University, Blodgett Pool – Cambridge, Mass.
- Quarterfinals (May 10) – vs. No. 3 University of California-Los Angeles – L, 6-8
- Consolation (May 11) – vs. No. 7 Iona College – W, 12-2
- Fifth Place Game (May 12) – vs. No. 5 University of California-San Diego – W, 12-10 (OT)
- 2015 NCAA Tournament – Stanford University, Avery Aquatic Center – Stanford, Calif.
- Play In Game (May 2) – DeNunzio Pool, Princeton, N.J. – vs. Wagner College – W, 12-2
- Quarterfinals (May 8) – at No. 2 Stanford University – L, 7-2
- Consolation (May 9) – vs. No. 5 University of Hawaii – W, 7-6
- Fifth Place Game (May 10) – vs. No. 6 University of California-Irvine – L, 6-5
Information courtesy Princeton University Athletics Communications
