No. 3 Seed Men’s Water Polo Falls to No. 2 Princeton in NWPC Semifinals, 16-10

Saturday, November 23

Cambridge, MA / MIT

5:00 PM

Brown University

Princeton University

No. 3 Seed Men’s Water Polo Falls to No. 2 Princeton in NWPC Semifinals, 16-10

11/23/2019 6:56:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Results

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Freshman Leo Berkman netted a hat trick, but No. 3 seed Brown University men's water polo fell to No. 2 seed Princeton University, 16-10, in the 2019 NWPC Championship semifinals on Saturday evening at MIT's Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center.

The No. 19 ranked Bears (21-12) remained within 6-4 of the No. 19 ranked Tigers (16-14) at halftime before Princeton used a 6-1 run to open the second half, taking a 12-5 lead. The two teams entered the contest tied in the national rankings.

Brown will play No. 4 seed St. Francis Brooklyn (19-13) in the third-place game on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. while Princeton will meet No. 1 seed and No. 9 ranked Harvard (28-0) in the first-place game at 12:30 p.m.

"Give credit to Princeton – they were the better team today," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "We have still had a great season and have a chance to play one more time as a team together tomorrow."

Berkman (Orinda, Calif.) tallied three goals, an assist, two steals, and two field blocks while senior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) posted two goals, a steal, and two ejections drawn.

Senior James Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) notched a goal and a steal while junior Adam Fuller (Santa Barbara, Calif.) registered a goal and an assist. Senior Will Collier (Darien, Conn.), sophomore Stephen Salle (Chadds Ford, Pa.), and freshman Cole Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) each tallied one goal.

Junior Aidan Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.) handed out a team-high four assists alongside two steals, and sophomore Matt Simko (Coral Gables, Fla.) drew a team-best four ejections.

In the cage, junior goalkeeper Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) made five saves.

Two goals from Berkman and a tally from Fuller matched three goals from Princeton as the two teams stood tied at 3-3 at the end of the first quarter.

The Tigers then used a 3-0 run to pull ahead 6-3 in the second quarter before Deirmenjian netted a goal just before the break, cutting the margin to 6-4 at halftime.

Princeton outscored Brown 6-1 to start the third quarter, moving ahead 12-5 despite a goal from Atwell. Collier and Thygesen each netted a goal to stop the run, bringing the Bears within 13-7 heading to the fourth quarter.

Each team scored three times in the fourth quarter with Deirmenjian, Berkman, and Salle providing the goals for Brown.

The Bears fell to 1-2 in the season series with Princeton.

Princeton 16, Brown 10
Brown....................... 3…1…3…3…10
Princeton.................. 3…3…7…3…16
Brown Goals: Berkman 3, Deirmenjian 2, Atwell, Collier, Fuller, Salle, Thygesen.
Brown Saves: Hallal 5.