BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The top four teams from both the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Northern and Southern Divisions will converge on Princeton University's DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J. on Friday-Sunday, November 16-18, for the league's 41st Annual/2012 Men's CWPA Eastern Championship.

Competition will begin on Friday, November 16 as the Southern Division champion faces the No. 4 qualifier from the Northern Division.  Action continues at 1:00 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to set the consolation and championship semifinals on Saturday, November 17.

Following the first date of competition, the league will host the Annual Collegiate Water Polo Association awards dinner at a site to be determined. Following the dinner, the All-Northern and Southern Division Teams, Most Valuable Players and Coaches of the Year will be announced leading up to the induction of the organization's 2012 Hall of Fame selection.

Prior to the start of competition on Saturday, November 17, the league will host a clinic for local athletes with a member of the staff from Kap7, the official ball of the Collegiate Water Polo Association, in DeNunzio Pool.  More details on the clinic will be released in the coming months.

Intercollegiate action resumes at 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. as the fallen from Friday's competition battle it out to decide the match-ups for the fifth and seventh place games on Sunday, November 18.  Following the two consolation semifinals, the championship semifinals will occur with the Winner of Game 1 meeting the Winner of Game 2 (4:30 p.m.) and the Winner of Game 3 facing the Winner of Game 4 (6:00 p.m.).

Sunday brings the final contests as seventh (10:00 a.m.), fifth (11:30 a.m.) and third (1:00 p.m.) place will be decided prior to the championship tilt at 2:30 p.m.

Game times for each round of the tournament are tentative prior to definitive confirmation from the athletics staff at Princeton based on pool availability.

Similar to past seasons, the Collegiate Water Polo Association will offer live, pay-per-view streaming coverage of all 12 games from the championship.

The tournament at Princeton marks the first time a defending league championship has hosted the event since 2008, when the host Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy defeated the Tigers at home in Annapolis, Md.  Last year, Princeton returned the favor to the Mids at Harvard University with a 10-7 victory to clinch the Tigers second CWPA Eastern Championship in the past three seasons. 

In the history of the championship, 12 teams have claimed titles with Yale University (1972, 1973, 1974), Bucknell University (1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980), University of Pittsburgh (1976), Brown University (1981, 1983, 1984, 1985), Loyola University (1982), Navy (1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008), University of Arkansas (1989), Slippery Rock University (1991), Princeton (1992, 2004, 2009, 2011), University of Massachusetts (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001), Queens College of New York (1997, 2002) and St. Francis College (2005, 2010) each taking the crown.