ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Mount St. Mary’s University went 1-3 at the 2024 Navy Open hosted by the United States Naval Academy with a victory over McKendree University, 18-14, and losses to Division III No. 7-ranked Occidental College, 13-10 OT, the host/No. 18 Midshipmen, 21-7, Gannon University, 14-12, and Biola University, 15-14.
On Saturday, September 7, junior Alexandros Bellesis scored five of his 16 goals during the weekend to give the Mount their first win of the year versus McKendree. graduate Student Vasilije Marinkovic recorded six saves in between the posts in his first game as a Mountaineer.
Taking on Occidental for the first time in program history, Mount St. Mary’s kept pace with the Tigers in the first quarter as both teams put up four goals. However, 2-0 and 2-1 scoring advantages in the second and third quarters, respectively, allowed Occidental to acquire an 8-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter. However, the Mount scored four goals in three minutes, with the final goal coming from a penalty shot scored by Bellesis with two seconds left on the clock, to knot the score at 10-all and force overtime. Occidental could not be denied in extra time as the squad scored three times to garner a 13-10 victory.
Competing in the team’s third and final game on Saturday, September 7, the Mount was unable to keep pace with the host Navy Midshipmen to suffer a 21-7 loss in Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) competition.
The Midshipmen outscored the Mountaineers 5-1 and 10-2 in the first and second quarters, respectively, prior to holding a 6-4 second half scoring margin to top Mount St. Mary’s.
On Sunday, September 8, Gannon built an 11-6 first half lead and held on in the second half to down the Mountaineers by a pair 14-12.
In the weekend finale for Mount St. Mary’s, Biola held a 15-13 lead with two minutes left. A goal by senior Nicholas Wallace-Whitfield moved the Mountaineers within one, but the comeback could not be completed as the Mountaineers took a one-goal defeat.
Junior Chrysostomos Valavanis scored ten goals in the five games with four goals coming against Biola. Sophomore Nate Valentine and senior Michael Lemishko both netted six goals a piece with the later adding three assists to his weekend tally. Marinkovic recorded 17 saves across the weekend, while junior Sherif Hosni racked up 13 saves.
Information courtesy Mount St. Mary’s University Athletics Communications
