MAKING A SPLASH: Princeton University men’s water polo goalie Vojislav Mitrovic guards the net in a game this season. Last Sunday, sophomore standout Mitrovic made 14 saves to help Princeton edge Johns Hopkins 7-6 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) championship game. Mitrovic was named the MVP of the CWPA tourney. The win earned the Tigers, now 22-4, a spot in the NCAA tournament where they will be facing UC-San Diego in a play-in game on December 2 at UCLA with the Final 4 taking place at the same site from December 5-6. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Even though the Princeton University men’s water polo team had already beaten Johns Hopkins three times this season, Luis Nicolao felt the pressure was on his squad when it faced the Blue Jays in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) championship game last Sunday.

“To have Hopkins win on Saturday night, it was like alright great, we are not playing Brown, who we thought we were going to play,” said Princeton head coach Nicolao.

“Now we are heavy favorites going into the game and it is like a lose-lose, we are supposed to win this game. They have a lot of talent, they are playing great and it was a no-lose situation for them.”

Having lost in the last two CWPA finals, falling 7-6 to Brown in 2014 and 11-9 to St. Francis in 2013, Nicolao knew things weren’t going to come easy in the title game at Cambridge, Mass.

“It is so painful to lose in that game, last year I was trying to put it in perspective, telling the seniors you have got to feel proud about getting to this game,” said Nicolao, whose team has been to seven of the last 11 CWPA finals, winning the title in 2004, 2009, and 2011.

“This was Hopkins’s first time ever in this game. There are teams that never get to this game. Yes, you want to win it every year but that is not realistic. It is so hard to do in our sport, you need a lot of things to happen. You need a lot of things to go right.”

This time, things went right for Princeton as it pulled out a 7-6 win over Hopkins. The Tigers got 14 saves from sophomore goalie standout Vojislav Mitrovic, who was named the MVP of the tournament, while senior Thomas Nelson scored four goals.

The hard-earned triumph earned Princeton, now 22-4, a spot in the NCAA tournament where it will be facing University of California-San Diego (14-13) in a play-in game on December 2 at UCLA with the Final 4 taking place at the same site from December 5-6.

“Hopkins plays really well and we had three or four chances in the first four minutes of the game and we missed them all and right there. I said to Derek (assistant coach Derek Ellingson)  on the bench, ‘OK it is going to be a fun one,” recalled Nicolao.

“Our freshmen were nervous and we didn’t finish off some opportunities. We let them hang around and next thing you know we are just fighting for our lives so it was brutal.”

The pivotal sequence came in the third period when the game was tied at 4-4 and Hopkins didn’t cash in on a penalty shot and a 6-on-5 advantage. Princeton responded with a Nelson goal to go up 5-4 and never trailed after that.

In Nicolao’s view, it was Princeton’s ability to stifle the Blue Jays that made the difference.

“Defense is everything; as any coach in any team sport will tell you, defense wins championships,” said Nicolao.

“The times we had played Hopkins, they had scored double digit goals in two of the games. I said to our guys before the game, Hopkins hasn’t seen us play our top level defense and in this game we have to do it because you can never count on your offense. Darn if that didn’t happen. If we didn’t come out and play like we did defensively, we would have gotten blown out. It was 3-1 at halftime and the one goal they scored was on a mistake in the last minute of the second quarter so our defense was just outstanding.”

Nelson’s scoring prowess gave the Tigers just enough offense to prevail.

“Nelson is a beast; if there was ever an argument for co-MVPs, this was the weekend,” asserted Nicolao.

“I think maybe Tommy’s performance got overlooked just by the fact that our defense was so good and Voji had an amazing weekend. Tommy had four goals on Sunday and they were huge goals, they were momentum stoppers for them. Every time Hopkins got close, Tommy had the answer for us.”

In beating Harvard 10-8 in the semis to earn the shot at the title, the combination of Nelson and Mitrovic was critical, with Nelson scoring four goals and Mitrovic making 20 saves to establish a program single-season record of 279.

“Harvard is a very good team and they have had an amazing year,” said Nicolao.

“They had beaten us already (12-6 in the Ivy Championships on October 18) and we are at Boston. I think it was one of our best games of the year. We played very well. Voji had an amazing game. His progress is a combination of just being a sophomore and being more familiar with Princeton and academics and just feeling better about himself.”

Nicolao feels very good to see this year’s group win the title. “It has been a fun year, we have had such great team camaraderie and gotten along so well,” said Nicolao.

“I am really happy for the team. It is so hard to get to that game and when you get there, anything can happen and I am just very happy for this group of seniors. It eases a little bit of what happened last year. We will always feel bad for last year’s seniors but any time you win it helps a lot of the pain go away.”

The Tigers will be looking to get some wins in NCAA competition, starting with the clash against UC-San Diego, which fell to Princeton earlier in the season.

“We have played them once this year, we beat them in the NORCAL tournament (12-9 on September 20) but that was early in the year,” said Nicolao.

“It is one game and a chance to go the Final 4 and play for a national championship. Anything can happen in one game. We are going to be excited to be out there and play well. There is no question it is going to be a battle.”