USA Women’s Water Polo team to host tournament at Princeton University

The USA Women’s Water Polo team will be hosting a “friendly invitational” tournament at Princeton University. It will be the first time the team has called Princeton home in nearly 20 years.

News 12 Staff

Dec 18, 2019, 2:18 AM

Updated 1,835 days ago

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The USA Women’s Water Polo team will be hosting a “friendly invitational” tournament at Princeton University. It will be the first time the team has called Princeton home in nearly 20 years.
The international 2019 Holiday Cup will feature teams from Russia, Italy, Canada and the Netherlands.
“We train six hours a day, six days a week pretty much and we only see each other,” says Team USA player Jordan Raney. “It's nice to get a different feeling from other teams, what they're doing defensively and offensively.
The U.S. team has won gold in the last two Olympics and have already qualified for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“Right now, we're in this tournament scouting our opponents. We have some of the best in the world here right now and it's really cool to have this opportunity so early in the quad,” says Team USA goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson.
This tournament will be a homecoming for Johnson, who is the all-time career saves leader at Princeton University. She is considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
“Being able to represent Princeton and Team USA on the world's stage is unlike anything and it's such a huge responsibility and something that I carry with me with every game that I go into and every practice and it's just really, really cool to be in this position,” Johnson says.
Most of the players on the Team USA roster come from the west coast. The team hasn't played a match in the northeast in nearly four years.
“There's so many people, so much opportunity and so much water polo here that's untouched. It's cool that we're getting coverage and exposure,” Johnson says.
The 2019 Holiday Cup is taking place through Saturday. Admission is free for all matches.