No. 20 Brown Goes to the Final Seconds to Down No. 17 Princeton 10-9 for ECAC Title

Sarah Glick

PRINCETON, N.J. -- For the second consecutive year, the Brown University women's water polo team earned the 2010 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship as the No. 20-ranked Bears edged host and No. 17 Princeton University 10-9. Brown senior Lauren Presant (Poway, Calif./Poway) put one past Princeton's goalkeeper on a man-up chance with just three seconds left in the game for the deciding score. Tournament Most Valuable Player Sarah Glick (Sr., Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista) led Brown's offense with five goals.

"I'm extremely proud of this team," said Brown head coach Felix Mercado.

"We fought to the end and never game up. It's still very early in the season and we have plenty of work to do, but we will take this time to enjoy this championship before getting back to work on Tuesday."

With the score even at 3-3 after the first eight minutes of the game, Princeton gained a lead in the second quarter and headed into halftime with a 5-4 lead. In the third quarter, the Tigers gained a two-goal lead on the Bears, but Brown clawed back and cut its deficit to one at 7-6 after the third quarter.

Both teams battled in the final eight minutes, as freshman Katharine Booher (Palo Alto, Calif./Castilleja) hit for a goal to even the score at 9-9. Just when it seemed like the game would head into overtime, Presant hit a man-up goal with three seconds left on the clock to earn the thrilling 10-9 victory against the Tigers in their pool.

Glick carried the offense with five goals, as junior Katharine Stanton (Danvile, Calif./Monte Vista), junior Joanna Wohlmuth (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa), Presant and Booher each added one apiece. Senior Stephanie Laing (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) had another spectacular game in the cage, picking up eight saves.

The 2009 ECAC champion, Brown had previously advanced to the ECAC title game in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2009.  In addition, the Bears made history becoming the first team to defeat Princeton in DeNunzio Pool for an ECAC Championship.

This year marked the fourth time Princeton has hosted the championship as the Garden State was previously the site of the 2000, 2001 and 2003 tournaments. In all three championships, Princeton exited DeNunzio with the championship plaque. Overall, the host team has now reached the title game six times in the 11 women's ECAC Championships, as Brown advanced and fell in the 2004 title game, while Bucknell captured the 2008 crown.

The title continues a stretch of dominance by Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) teams at the ECAC Championship as six-time titleist Princeton (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007), Hartwick College (2004), Bucknell University (2008) and Brown (2009) of the CWPA have swept all of the tournaments.

Overall, only the 2005-07 and 2000-01 Princeton Tigers had previously repeated as ECAC Champions as the Bears knocked off host Marist College 10-8 in overtime last year.