No. 6 Men’s Water Polo Doubles Up Iona To Advance To NWPC Championship Game
PRINCETON, N.J.- The Princeton men's water polo team kicked off play in the Northeast Water Polo Conference tournament with a bang. The Tigers took on the Iona Gaels in the semifinal with a spot in the conference championship game on the line.
Roko Pozaric got Princeton on the board 50 seconds into the game. The Gaels responded with a goal of their own before Vladan Mitrovic and JP Ohl scored on back-to-back possessions. Finn LeSieur joined the scoring attack to make it a 4-1 game.
Mitrovic added two more tallies for an early hat trick in the first quarter of the matchup as Princeton held a 7-2 advantage.
Goals from four different scorers in the second quarter bumped the Tigers' lead to 11-5 going into the halftime break.
Princeton never let off the gas as Logan McCarroll found the back of the cage to start the third. The strong defense from Kristóf Kovács and the Tigers kept Iona off the board for all but the final 46 seconds of the third frame.
McCarroll scored twice in the fourth for a hat trick of his own as Princeton took care of Iona 22-11.
Kovács made 14 saves in the cage to help Princeton advance to the NWPC final for the fourth straight season.
The team will face the No. 3 seed Brown Bears with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and the NWPC title up for grabs. The game is set for 1:00 PM at DeNunzio Pool.
Goals: McCarroll (3), Mitrovic (3), Appeldorn (2) Nathan Banos (2), Gavin Molloy (2), Palcza (2), Pozaric (2), George Caras, Will Garlinghouse, LeSieur, Ohl, Adam Peocz, William Swart
Saves: Kovács (14)
