Maryland Falls at Division Tournament
4/24/2010 8:00:00 AM | Water Polo
April 24, 2010
PRINCETON, N.J. - Shannon Simerly gave a valiant effort, but it was not enough for the Maryland water polo team which was defeated by Princeton, 7-6, Saturday evening in the semifinals of the CWPA Southern Division tournament.
Simerly, a team captain and the lone senior on the squad, had a game-high three goals and six steals for the third-seeded Terps, but the No. 2 seed Tigers (18-8) scored twice in the final period to pull out the come-from-behind win.
Maryland head coach Carl Salyer was not pleased about the outcome, but applauded the effort and improvement in the third meeting between the teams this season.
"This was the best we played against Princeton all year," Salyer said. "We shored up our defense in the second and third quarters, but we got tired and reverted back to that first quarter defense in the fourth."
Princeton's Brittany Zwirner scored with 5:28 remaining in the game to tie it at 6-all and Saranna Soroka added the game-winner a minute later.
Zwirner, Soroka and Helen Meigs all had two goals apiece for the Tigers.
The Terps trailed 4-3 after one period, but tied it 5-all at the half and took a 6-5 lead early in the final period.
"We just couldn't take advantage of our offensive opportunities," Salyer said.
Shelby Reyes had a career-high 13 blocks for the Terps (13-17). Meghan Powers, Ally Beck and Elina Goldenberg chipped in a goal apiece for Maryland.
Top-seeded Bucknell defeated No. 4 seed George Washington, 10-2, in the other semifinal game.
Princeton will face Bucknell at 1 p.m. Sunday in the championship game. Maryland and George Washington will play for third place at 11:30 p.m. at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool.
Saturday, April 24
DeNunzio Pool
Princeton 7, Maryland 6
1st 2nd 3rd 4th F MD (13-17) 3 1 1 1 6 PU (18-8) 4 0 1 2 7MD Goals: Simerly 3, Powers, Beck, Goldenberg
PU Goals: Meigs 2, Soroka 2, Zwirner 2, Champion
MD Blocks: Reyes 13
PU Blocks: Ward 11
