Brown University
Princeton
No. 4 Seed Men's Water Polo Falls to No. 1 Princeton in OT in NWPC Semis, 11-9
11/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Senior Tommy Bush scored three goals, but No. 4 seed Brown University men's water polo fell to No. 1 seed Princeton, 11-9, in overtime in the semifinals of the 2017 Northeast Water Polo Conference Championship on Saturday evening at Harvard University's Blodgett Pool.
The No. 14 ranked Bears (20-12) rallied from an 8-5 deficit late in the third quarter to tie the game at 9-9 and force overtime before the No. 13 ranked Tigers (22-5) scored the only two goals of the extra sessions to advance to the tournament's title game.
Brown will face No. 2 seed and No. 18 ranked St. Francis Brooklyn (13-13) in the third-place game on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Princeton will play No. 3 seed and No. 15 ranked Harvard (22-7) in the first-place game at 12:30 p.m.
In support of the hat trick from Bush (Lafayette, Calif.), junior Travis Bouscaren (Cambridge, Mass.) netted two goals while senior Tyler Kirchberg (Orinda, Calif.) posted a goal and two assists.
Sophomore Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) tallied a goal and an assist while senior Rico Burke (San Mateo, Calif.) and sophomore Hudson Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) each scored one goal.
In the cage, freshman goalkeeper Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) made eight saves, including three stops in the fourth quarter.
After Princeton opened the second half with three straight goals to pull ahead 8-5, Bush started the Bears' comeback, scoring a goal from the perimeter with 22 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Kirchberg converted from the right wing with 6:18 to play in regulation prior to Bush completing his hat trick and tying the game at 8-8 at the 2:11 mark. Princeton went ahead 9-8 with 57 seconds left in the fourth quarter before Rawlings equalized at 9-9 with 30 seconds to go in regulation on a backhanded shot off a feed from Kirchberg.
Princeton scored once in the first overtime period and once in the second bonus session to emerge with the win.
The two teams traded goals in the opening quarter as the Tigers gained a 3-2 edge. Bush and Deirmenjian each tallied a goal in the stanza.
Back-to-back goals from Bush and Bouscaren pushed Brown ahead 4-3 with 4:36 remaining in the second quarter, giving the Bears their only lead of the game. Princeton responded with two goals before Bouscaren netted a tally with seven seconds to play in the half to knot the score at 5-5 at the intermission.
Following Princeton's 3-0 run to start the half, Brown countered with three straight goals to draw level at 8-8 in the fourth quarter. Each team scored once in the final minute of regulation prior to Princeton netting two goals in overtime.
Brown fell to Princeton three times on the season with two of those contests going to overtime and one coming down to a margin of one goal in regulation. The Tigers topped the Bears, 9-8, in Princeton on Oct. 1 and, 14-13, in sudden victory overtime on Oct. 29 in Providence.
Princeton 11, Brown 9
Brown....................... 2…3…1…3…0…9
Princeton.................. 3…2…3…1…2…11
Brown Goals: Bush 3, Bouscaren 2, Burke, Deirmenjian, Kirchberg, Rawlings.
Brown Saves: Hallal 8.
