George Washington Splits on First Day of 2010 Southern Division Championship Tournament
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The sixth-seeded George Washington's University men's water polo team battled through a pair of one-goal contests Saturday, falling to third-seed Johns Hopkins University, 9-8, before topping seventh-seed Gannon University, 8-7, to advance to the fifth-place game of the CWPA Southern Division Championship at the United States Naval Academy.
GW (9-19) will now face either No. 5 seed Mercyhurst College or No. 8 seed Washington & Jefferson College in the fifth-place game on Sunday, November 7 at 12:30 p.m.
GW took an early one goal lead, but Johns Hopkins rattled off three unanswered goals and hung on late for a 9-8 triumph over the Colonials in Saturday's most important contest.
After falling behind 3-1 after a quarter, the Colonials battled back to 5-4 at the half and 7-7 after three quarters, but the Blue Jays grabbed a 9-8 edge in the final stanza and ran off the final 45 seconds to hang on.
Senior Peter Thomas and freshman Nate Little tallied two goals apiece to pace GW, with sophomores Guy Helman and John Paul Bezerra and rookies Paul Deasey and Daniel Tyner each adding a goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Cameron Illes made 12 saves, including a pair of five-meter penalty stops.
GW converted 3-of-10 man-up chances, while Hopkins turned in 3-of-7 opportunities in what proved to be the difference in the contest.
The Colonials jumped ahead to a 7-4 cushion after 24 minutes and held on for an 8-7 victory over the Golden Knights in Saturday's late contest.
Little tallied a hat trick and Tyner added a goal before being rolled in the final quarter, when GW managed to thwart a Gannon rally for the one-goal triumph. Deasey netted two goals and Helman scored once, while Illes totaled nine saves.
Release courtesy Gannon Athletic Communications