No. 17 Princeton Downs Johns Hopkins 15-8 in CWPA Southern Division Competition

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The 17th-ranked Princeton University water polo team used a 6-0 run that spanned the second and third quarters to take control of the match en route to a 15-8 win over Johns Hopkins University on the evening of Saturday, October 17 in Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Southern Division-East Region action. The loss drops the Blue Jays to 9-12 overall and 1-5 in the CWPA, while the Tigers win their third straight to improve to 10-9 and 6-1 in the CWPA.

Hopkins got off to a good start, leading at 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, before a Tim Wenzlau goal with 29 ticks on the clock made it a 3-3 game at the end of the first. Coming out of the break, Wenzlau took a pass from Eric Vreeland and scored to give Princeton its first lead of the day and ignite the 6-0 run. The Tigers would not trail again as they held the Blue Jays scoreless in the second quarter to take a 7-3 lead into the half. Four different players scored in the second stanza for the Tigers.

Matt Hale came out of the half and put home a pair for Princeton as the Tigers pushed its lead to 9-3 with 5:14 to play in the third. Sophomore Mark Strickland (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit) ended the Blue Jays drought, shaking off a defender and burying a pass from senior Kyle Gertridge (Gunn Prep, Calif./Paolo Alto) to make it 9-4 midway through the third quarter.

The Tigers responded with a pair of goals to push its lead to seven. Freshman Ross Schofield (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) then sandwiched a pair of goals and around a strike from Mike Helou and it was a 12-6 Princeton lead with just 28 ticks on the clock in the third. But Wenzlau wasn't done for Princeton. He would score a man-up goal with just seven seconds remaining to push the lead back to seven.

Senior Peter Sauerhoff (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs) and freshman Alex Whittam (Hillsborough, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) sandwiched a pair around a goal from Chris Cottrell before Mark Zalewski closed out the scoring with 1:17 remaining to account for the 15-8 final.

Release courtesy Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications