Berkman Nets Hat Trick, Men’s Water Polo Falls to No. 18 Princeton, 12-9

Sunday, October 6

Princeton, NJ

10:00 AM

Brown University

Princeton University

Berkman Nets Hat Trick, Men’s Water Polo Falls to No. 18 Princeton, 12-9

10/6/2019 1:16:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Results

PRINCETON, N.J. – Freshman Leo Berkman scored a hat trick, and sophomore goalkeeper Ugo Piovan made a dozen saves, but Brown University men's water polo fell to No. 18 Princeton University, 12-9, on Sunday morning at DeNunzio Pool.

Playing in the final game of their first NWPC weekend, the Bears (9-7, 1-2 NWPC) used a 4-2 third quarter to pull within three goals of the host Tigers (7-9, 1-1 NWPC) heading to the final frame but could not trim the margin any further in the fourth quarter.

"We need to figure out a way to avoid slow starts," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "Princeton is too good of a team to spot them a five-goal lead. We will get better but need to get ready to host two good teams next week in Harvard and MIT."

Berkman (Orinda, Calif.) paced the Brown offense with three goals and an assist while fellow freshman Cole Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) scored two goals.

Senior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) totaled a goal, two steals, three field blocks, and three ejections drawn. Seniors Will Collier (Darien, Conn.) and James Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) and sophomore Gabe Kaplan (Santa Monica, Calif.) each netted one goal.

Senior Hudson Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) and junior Aidan Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.) each dished out two assists while sophomore Matt Simko (Coral Gables, Fla.) drew a team-high five ejections.

In the cage, Piovan (Vouliagmeni, Greece) tallied 12 saves for his second double-figure save performance of the season.

After Princeton opened the game with a 3-0 lead, Brown used a 3-1 run behind a pair of goals from Berkman and a marker from Atwell to pull within 4-3. The Tigers notched the frame's last goal to take a 5-3 edge at the end of one.

Thygesen started the second quarter's scoring, pulling Brown within 5-4. The Tigers then closed the half on a 4-0 run, bringing a 9-4 advantage into the locker room.

Brown used a 4-2 third quarter to trim Princeton's margin to 11-8. Goals from Atwell and Kaplan helped bring Brown within 10-6 with 3:22 to go in the quarter before goals from Collier and Berkman sliced the deficit to 11-8 heading to the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, neither side scored until Princeton broke through at the 4:18 mark. Deirmenjian scored 10 seconds later to bring the score to 12-9, but both defenses did not allow a goal the rest of the way.

Next, Brown hosts its first NWPC home contests of 2019 with match-ups on Saturday, Oct. 12 against No. 12 Harvard at 11:00 a.m. (ESPN+) and MIT at 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

Princeton 12, Brown 9
Brown....................... 3…1…4…1…9
Princeton.................. 5…4…2…1…12
Brown Goals: Berkman 3, Atwell 2, Collier, Deirmenjian, Kaplan, Thygesen.
Brown Saves: Piovan 12.