Princeton, N.J. - The No. 5 Pacific men's water polo team dominated No. 11 Princeton on national TV, winning the Battle of the Tigers by never trailing. Krisztian Laczkovics led the way with four goals for the Tigers while Alex Obert added three.
Pacific has won 50 straight games against non-MPSF opponents and snapped Princeton's 22-game home pool win streak. The Tigers improve to 7-1 on the season and remain unbeaten in regulation.
Brady Moore recorded six saves in goal for the Tigers and the Pacific defense forced 14 turnovers. Aleksandar Petrovic and Ben Stevenson each added two goals while Kale Ai, Tim Reeves, Ikko Saito and J.T. Sarmento also tallied for Pacific.
after Brady Moore held strong on Princeton's opening foray, Krisztian Laczkovics opened the scoring with a perimeter shot tucked inside the post. Moore stopped a breakaway attempt from Jovan Jeremic, and on the other end Aleksandar Petrovic fired a skip shot into the net for a 2-0 Pacific lead. Obert finished on the doorstep as Pacific took a 3-0 lead after one quarter.
Tim Reeves finished the entry pass from Laczkovics for a 6-on-5 goal and Ikko Saito went cross-cage off a foul for his fifth goal of the year and 5-0 Pacific lead. Moore denied a point-blank shot on a Princeton 6-on-5, but a floater from Ryan Wilson in transition got Princeton on the board at the 4:37 mark.
But Ben Stevenson skipped it inside the near post for his 20th goal of the year. Obert finished from inside the two-meter over the keeper for his second goal of the game. Wilson answered back with his second goal for Princeton, slipping it under the arms of Moore from the middle.
J.T. Sarmento took a feed on the post and snuck it past the keeper with a quick release to the upper right corner as the Tigers maintained an 8-2 lead at the half.
Thomas Nelson tucked a shot inside the near post as Princeton got one back early in the third. On the 6-on-5, Laczkovics finished with a cross-cage shot for a 9-3 advantage and his second goal of the game. Petrovic tallied again finishing a feed from Kale Ai for a 10-3 advantage, prompting a Princeton timeout.
Princeton tallied with a 6-on-5 goal from Jamie Kuprenas, and Wilson completed the hat trick in transition to cut the Tigers' lead to 10-5. Wilson tapped in a Princeton rebound as the the East Coast Tigers clawed within 10-6.
Stevenson ripped a shot home from the top to answer for Pacific. Connor McGoldrick answered for Princeton with a skip shot as Pacific's lead dwindled to 11-7.
Kale Ai responded to give Pacific a 12-7 lead in the fourth and Obert completed the hat trick with 6:39 to play. Laczkovics' third goal in transition restored a seven-goal advantage.
Kuprenas used the inside of the post to finish for Princeton, but Laczkovics went short-side for his fourth goal to cap a 6-on-5 as the Tigers slammed the door.
Princeton added a five-meter penalty Thomas Nelson to finish the scoring as the Tigers emptied the bench and ran out the clock.
Princeton starting goalie Vojislav Mitrovic made 12 saves in goal, but Princeton fell to 4-1.
Pacific is back in action later this afternoon as the Tigers take on No. 13 Brown at 12:30 pm PT. Live stats are available for the game via FOSH: http://live.thefosh.net/livestats.php?gameid=749
