PRINCETON, N.J. -- Lions maybe "Kings of the Jungle," but Tigers can swim better - at least in the state of New Jersey.

Mark Zalewski (Sr., St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) scored twice, including the game-winner with 6:51 left in the fourth period, and goalie Mike Merlone (Jr., Atherton, Calif./The Menlo School) made seven saves as the No. 13-nationally ranked Princeton University Tigers  (16-12) defended their home of DeNunzio Pool with a convincing 6-5 victory over No. 6 Loyola Marymount University (19-9) in the 2009 NCAA Championship Third Place game.

The victory is the first in Princeton history at an NCAA Water Polo Championship and marks the second time an East Coast school has finished third or better in the past three years ast the NCAA Championship.  In 2007, the United States Naval Academy defeated LMU 7-5 at Stanford University for third place for the first win by an East Coast team at the NCAA Championship since 2002. Last year, LMU defeated Navy 11-4 in the third place game.

Due to the low score, defense and special team play was the story of the game as Merlone was forced to block down a five-meter penalty shot with 3:49 left in the first period.  The stop ignited the Tigers' as Merlone stopped a 6-on-5 chance with 49 ticks left on the clock and fed a pass up the tank which resulted in a five-meter penalty call to put Zalewski on the line.

Zalewski did not waste the chance rifling a shot up and over the outstretched arms of LMU netminder Andy Stevens with 19 seconds left in the period to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead through eight minutes of play.

The Lions tied the game with a five-meter goal penalty shot by Brian Benedetti 54 seconds into the second period, but the Tigers' counter-attack went to work and cashed in on back-to-back chances.  Matt Hale (Jr., Atherton, Calif./The Menlo School) collected a pass from Merlone at the quarter-tank mark and went the distance down the pool, weaving his waya through the Lions' defense before burying a shot past Stevens to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead with 5:58 left in the first half.

Tommy Parolin (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) added to the lead with 1:38 showing on the second period clock zipping a shot into the cage to make it 3-1 before LMU's Albert Samuels struck on a man-up chance at the 52 seconds mark to make it 3-2 at halftime.

Unlike the first half in which Princeton won both sprints, the Lions grabbed the drop and converted on their second possession of the new half as Samuels controlled a pass and converted on the shot to pull Loyola Marymount even at 3-3. 

However, the Tigers' man-up unit broke the tie and the LMU defense with 4:39 left in the period as the Lions' Andrew Aki was ejected and Douglas Wigley (Sr., Portola Valley, Calif./Sacred Heart) uncorked a shot which eluded Stevens to make it 4-3.  Billy Tifft (Fr., San Diego, Calif./The Bishop's School) added a score with 1:11 left in the period to make it 5-3 through 24 minutes of play.

Zalewski added the eventual back-breaker 1:09 into the fourth period as he unleashed a blast from the wing on a man-up chance to make it 6-3 with 6:51 left in the contest.

But, Loyola Marymount refused to be caged as Edgaras Asajavicius tallied a marker at 5:48 and Aki found the netting at 5:01 to pull LMU to within a goal at 6-5.

Needing a stop to preserve the win, Merlone gave his team a pair of saves and his game-high fifth steal of the contest as the Tigers hung on and kept the Lions at bay until the final 30 seconds of play.

Possessing the ball twice and looking for an opening in the final minute,  the Lions found a Tigers' defense which stymied their comeback hopes and shooters twice forcing turnovers at 49 seconds and nine seconds.

However, a Princeton ejection with seven seconds left on the clock gave LMU a final chance at the cage, which the Tigers were able to snuff-out in the field to regain the ball with 00.461 seconds left in regulation.  A 30-second timeout by Princeton head coach Luis Nicolao and a short pass from Merlone would be all the Tigers needed the rest of the way to hang on for victory.

Overall, Princeton outshot LMU 21-13 as the Tigers improved to 3-2 all-time against the Lions.

Merlone finished with seven saves to earn the win, while Stevens added 12 stops for LMU in taking the loss.

NOTES: Loyola Marymount and Princeton were the only teams in the 2009 NCAA Championship that did not meet during the regular season...LMU is now 2-3 all-time against the Tigers as the Lions lost in 1997 (13-11 L, 10/17/97) at a neutral site and dropped an 8-3 game at home in 2005 (10-19-05) before falling today.  LMU picked up wins over Princeton in 2000 (9-8 W OT, 9/17/00) at home and 2004 (6-5 W, 12/5/04) at a neutral site in the NCAA Championship consolation game...LMU's loss prevented the Lions from captureing their 20th victory of the year...It also prevented the fourth 20-win season under LMU head coach John Loughran following 20 or more wins in 1999 (22-9), 2004 (21-11) and 2008 (21-10)...Princeton is now 1-6 in NCAA Championship games as the Tigers previously went 0-3 in 1992 (Stanford 18-5 L, UC-San Diego 14-9 L, Navy 14-9 L) and 0-2 in 2004 (UCLA 7-5 L OT, Loyola Marymount 6-5 L)...Mark Zalewski leads the Tigers with 57 goals on the year, while Matt Hale has 19...Billy Tifft's goal marked only his sixth of the year in 27 games...Douglas Wigley finished with 33 goals on the year, while Tommy Parolin notched 13...Mike Merlone's victory marked his 12th of the year...The UCLA-USC National Title game will mark the fifth time an NCAA Championship will be crowned on the Princeton campus.  Princeton hosted the 1975 wrestling championship, the 1981 men's lacrosse championship and the 1990 and 2004 women's lacrosse championships...The title game will also mark the first time that two "East Coast" referees whistle the championship as Alex Stankevitch and Mark Koganov were selected by the NCAA to officiate the game.

Princeton Goals: Mark Zalewski (2); Tommy Parolin; Matt Hale; Douglas Wigley; Billy Tifft 

LMU Goals: Albert Samuels (2); Brian Benedetti; Andrew Aki; Edgaras Asajaviciu

Saves: Princeton - Mike Merlone (7) ; LMU - Andy Stevens (12)

Exclusions: Princeton - 7 ; LMU - 7

Advantage Opportunities: Princeton - 3-for-7 ; LMU - 2-for-7

Sprints: Princeton - 2-for-4 ; LMU - 2-for-4

Officials: Steve Redding, Steve Rotsart

Douglas Wigley

Mike Merlone saves a five-meter penalty shot with 3:49 left in the first period

Princeton fans react to Billy Tifft's goal to put the Tigers up 5-3 at the end of the third period

Princeton head coach Luis Nicolao and the NCAA Third Place Trophy pose with the Tigers' seniors