Water polo flirts with upset but falls to No. 11 Princeton
ORANGE, Calif. – Hosting its second ranked Division I opponent in as many weeks, the Chapman University men's water polo team fell to No. 11 Princeton University (N.J.) 13-10 at the Allred Pool on Friday morning. The Panthers had flirted with an upset throughout most of the contest, but three consecutive Princeton goals late in the fourth quarter sealed their fate.
With the win, Princeton (7-0) remained unbeaten this season after its first of seven Southern California matches this weekend.
The Tigers didn't take their first lead until the 5:28 mark in the third quarter on a goal by senior Kurt Buchbinder to give Princeton a 6-5 lead. Prior to that they had been playing catch up after Chapman (2-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to two of junior Mark Alvarado's game-high four goals.
Panthers' senior utility Brett Carter scored go-ahead goals in the second quarter giving Chapman 3-2 and 4-3 leads and the two teams went into halftime knotted at four. Carter finished with three goals in the game. Chapman sophomore goalie Stephen Neil made several key saves in the first half, on his way to 10 in the game.
Chapman again took a one-goal lead on a goal from senior James Vigeant early in the third, but Princeton rallied for back-to-back goals to gain its first lead of the game. With the score tied 7-7, the Tigers closed the third period with consecutive goals in a span of 36 seconds to lead 9-7 and never looked back.
The Panthers pulled within a goal at 10-9 with 4:14 remaining in the game by sophomore Willis Allen, but Princeton finished on a 3-1 run to close out the game. Princeton junior Kayj Shannon led the Tigers with three goals.
by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director
Boxscore: http://chapman.prestosports.com/sports/mwaterpolo/2013-14/files/Chapman_vs._Princeton.pdf
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