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Semifinal 1: No. 13 Princeton vs. No. 1 USC, Sat., December 5, 3 p.m.
Semifinal 2: No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 6 Loyola Marymount, Sat., December 5, 5 p.m.
Third-Place Game: Sun., December 6, Noon
Championship Game: Sun., December 6, 2 p.m. (Live on CBS College Sports)

PRINCETON, N.J -- With the 2009 NCAA Water Polo Championships scheduled to be played at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool, the Tiger men's water polo team set playing in the championship in front of its home crowd as one of its primary goal for the season.

That goal came to fruition two weekends ago when Princeton won the CWPA Eastern Championship and in doing so, earned the league's automatic bid to the national championship tournament. The Tigers still have work to do however, and will get to it on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., when they take on top-seed and defending National Champion USC in front of a sold-out crowd at DeNunzio Pool.

The Tigers are making their third-ever NCAA tournament appearance and their first since the 2004 season when the Tigers were the tournament's third seed and took eventual National Champion UCLA to overtime in the semifinal round. In the time since, the Tigers have come close to returning to the national tournament, but dropped the Eastern final to Navy in 2006 and 2008.

This year, the Tigers returned the favor to Navy with a 5-4 win in the fifth meeting of the season between the two teams. Navy took three of the five games, but Princeton won the won that mattered most by edging its league rival in the Eastern title game two weekends ago at MIT.

Princeton defeated MIT, Bucknell and Navy on its way to earning the Eastern Championship, topping the three opponents by a combined four goals. Senior Douglas Wigley, who was named the Eastern Tournament Most Valuable Player, scored six goals in the three games, while classmate Mark Zalewski, the team's leading scorer, added four goals in the three games. Princeton junior goalie Mike Merlone stopped 29 shots in the tournament as he led the team to three close wins.

Princeton faces a tough draw in USC, the top seed in the tournament field. The teams played on October 9 at USC in a game the Trojans won 14-3. Freshmen Billy Tifft and Tim Wenzlau had goals in the loss. USC was the nation's top-ranked team much of the season, but was knocked off in the MPSF semifinals last weekend by UCLA. The Trojans won the third-place game and earned an at-large bid to the tournament field.

Princeton also faced second-seeded UCLA this season, falling 17-4 at home in the season opener for both teams. Seniors David de L'Arbre and Wigley had goals in the loss. UCLA, the fourth seed for last week's MPSF Tournament, knocked off USC in the semifinals and topped California in the championship game to earn the MPSF automatic bid.

The final member of the field is third-seeded Loyola Marymount, which won the WWPA title two weekends ago. Princeton and LMU have not played this season and last met in the 2005 season when Princeton picked up an 8-3 win on the road.

Release courtesy Princeton Athletic Communications