Finn LeSieur
Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC
No. 6 Men’s Water Polo Defeats Brown, Clinches No. 1 Seed In NWPC Tournament
PROVIDENCE, R.I.- The No. 6 Princeton men's water polo team made its way to the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center to take on the No. 19 Brown Bears. With solidifying their spot as the No. 1 seed in the NWPC on the line, Princeton handled business and took down Brown 16-12.
The Tigers started off quickly taking advantage of two exclusions to take a 2-0 lead. The Bears got on the board, but Gavin Appeldorn responded with a goal for Princeton. The teams exchanged goals before the score sat tied at 4-4 at the end of the first.
Brown got a goal with a man advantage of their own but Roko Pozaric netted his second goal of the day. Finn LeSieur followed that up with back to back goals and an early hat trick to make it a 7-6 game.
Again the teams went back and forth on goals before Princeton added two to close out the first half up 10-7.
Gavin Molloy found the back of the cage to open the third frame. Brown cut the lead to two but the Tigers kept pushing the pace. LeSieur scored on a tough shot at the buzzer as Princeton held a three-goal lead at the end of the quarter.
Appeldorn recorded his third tally for the hat trick to kick off the final quarter. The Tiger defense was forced to play with a man down due to exclusions but they did not waver and kept Brown from scoring on the possessions. Adam Peocz then went the other way for the Princeton goal.
The final minutes clicked off the clock as the Tigers held off the Bears to end the regular season in the win column.
LeSieur paced Princeton with four goals in the matchup and a new single game career high. Appeldorn and Pozaric each recorded a hat trick in the victory.
Goals: LeSieur (4), Appeldorn (3), Pozaric (3), Mitrovic (2), Molloy (2), George Caras, Peocz
Saves: Kristóf Kovács (6)
