No. 6 Men’s Water Polo Completes Four-Peat Of NWPC Championship
PRINCETON, N.J.- The Princeton men's water polo team is the Northeast Water Polo Conference Champions once again. The Tigers bested the Brown Bears to secure the NWPC crown for the fourth consecutive season.
The win marks the ninth conference title in program history and tenth NCAA tournament appearance.
The showdown at DeNunzio Pool kicked off as Roko Pozaric won the opening sprint and the Tigers took off. As the possessions went back and forth, Vladan Mitrovic slammed the ball to the back of the cage to give Princeton the lead that it would never relinquish.
Goals from Gavin Appeldorn, Ádám Peocz, and Pozaric bumped the lead to four as Kristóf Kovács made save after save to shut out the Bears in the first quarter.
The energy was contagious as Princeton poured in five goals in the second stanza. Mitrovic and Pozaric scored twice in the quarter to give the senior duo each a hat trick. Kovács continued his dominance in the cage as it took Brown over 14 minutes to score its first goal of the game.
The Tigers went to halftime up 9-1 and immediately pushed the pressure in the second half. JP Ohl scored to bring the Princeton tally to double digits.
Brown looked to create a spark and strung together three goals but Pozaric's fourth goal of the game snuffed out the flame. Appeldorn and Luke Johnston would put up tallies of their own to respond to the Bears.
Princeton owned a 13-5 advantage going into the final eight minutes of the championship game.
William Swart scored twice in the fourth quarter to put his mark on the stat sheet. The final seconds ticked off the clock as the team jumped into the pool to celebrate.
PRINCETON COMPLETES THE FOUR-PEAT?? pic.twitter.com/2wlYBsxQ8O
— Princeton Water Polo (@Pwaterpolo) November 24, 2024
Kovács was honored as the Tournament MVP as the Princeton keeper made 33 saves and added four assists across the two games. With a 19-save game in the final, Kovács broke the almost decade-old single season saves record and now has 315 on the season.
The Tigers will head to Stanford, Calif. for the NCAA Tournament with the bracket being announced on Monday, Nov. 25 at 12:00 PM ET.
Goals: Pozaric (4), Appeldorn (3), Mitrovic (3), Swart (2), Johnston, Gavin Molloy, Ohl, Palcza, Peocz
Saves: Kovács (19)
