Mount St. Mary’s University-vs.-Salem University Scoresheet (MAWPC-West Championship – Game #4)
ERIE, Pa. — Jason O’Donnell (Fr., Beaconsfield, Quebec/John Abbott College) scored seven times, including five markers over the last 16 minutes to fuel a second half comeback, to notch Player of the Game accolades as No. 3 seed Mount St. Mary’s University penned No. 6 seed Salem University, 15-10, to claim at least Fourth Place at the Winter 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Championship.
Competing at the David M. Hallman III Aquatics Center in Erie, the first-year varsity Mountaineers overcame a 7-5 halftime deficit to overcome the Tigers and clinch at least second place in Bracket B. Mount St. Mary’s will decide if it competes for Third Place or First Place at 8:15 p.m. this evening when the Mountaineers meet defending MAWPC-West Champion Gannon University for the division title.
A victory over No. 2 seed Gannon will place Mount St, Mary’s into the MAWPC-West title game at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 28, while a loss drops the Mountaineers into the Third Place contest at 11:15 a.m.
Salem, which previously dropped a 7-6 game to Gannon, will play for Fifth Place on February 28 against No. 6 seed Washington & Jefferson College – which fell to No. 1 seed McKendree University (26-9 L) and No. 4 seed Mercyhurst University (17-12 L). Both Salem (0-5) and W&J (0-6) are winless on the season as one of the pair are guaranteed to claim their inaugural victory of the Winter 2021 season in the final game of their program’s season.
Salem jumped out to an early lead against Mount St. Mary’s as Chad Rowley (So., Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/Fatima College) connected for a natural goal (7:40) and Petar Leontijevic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/Seventh Gimnasium in Belgrade) converted on a man-up bid (7:00) to stake the Tigers to a 2-0 lead one minute into the contest.
The Mountaineers erased their deficit in short order as Brock Cudahy (Gr., Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) put away a power-play chance (5:57) and O’Donnell drilled in an even-strength strike (5:10) to square the squads at two-all.
Salem regained the momentum as Rowley (3:46) and Goncalo Silva (Fr., Lisbon, Portugal) (3:07) ticked off back-to-back natural tallies to push the Tigers out to a 4-2 margin, but O’Donnell (1:00, even-strength) and Jason Fitch (Fr., Middle River, Md./Calvert Hall) (23 seconds, man-up) responded to make it four-all through eight minutes of competition.
The Tigers gained the better of play in the second quarter as Rowley (7:22, 2:49) swished a pair of even-strength opportunities and Silva stroked in a man-up shot (1:37) to surround a marker by Eli Thalos (Jr., Salt Lake City, Utah/West) at 3:43 as Salem carried a 7-5 lead into halftime.
However, the momentum shifted definitively midway through the third quarter as Thalos – who previously competed at the University of the Pacific – moved the Mountaineers back within one at 7-6.
O’Donnell tied the game and gave Mount St. Mary’s the lead for good by hammering home back-to-back natural markers at 3:51 and 2:40 to push his program ahead 8-7. Ben Dable (Fr., St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) capped off a 4-0, four-minute outburst by the Mountaineers by looping in a shot with 23 seconds on the clock to make it 9-7.
The final 30 seconds of the third quarter saw three goals buried as Ivan Zivojinovic (Fr., Belgrade, Serbia) snapped Mount St. Mary’s run with a score at the 15 seconds mark prior to O’Donnell ignited another one with five seconds remaining in the frame.
Leading 10-8 with eight minutes to play, the Mountaineers continued to pull away as Fitch (6:04, even-strength) and O’Donnell (4:59 even-strength, 4:25 man-up) went back-to-back-to-back to build the margin to 13-8.
Zivojinovic again snapped a four-goal outburst by Mount St. Mary’s by swooping in a shot at 4:11, but Thalos completed a hat-trick with 3:26 on the clock to return the lead to five at 14-9.
The teams traded scoring blows over the final three minutes of competition as Zivojinovic completed his own hat-trick at 3:09 with a man-up score before Matthew Schwanke (Fr., Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) drove home the final nail with 2:06 remaining in regulation for the 15-10 final score.
Mount St. Mary’s – which is guaranteed to reset the league record for highest finish by a first-year varsity program at the MAWPC-West Championship held by McKendree which took Fifth Place in 2017 – received a hat-trick by Thalos and a pair of goals by Fitch to accompany O’Donnell’s seven tallies. Cudahy, Schwanke, Dable each deposited solo scores in support of a 13 save effort by goalie Marko Kruska (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/West Valley College).
For Salem, Rowley (four), Zivojiovic (three) and Silva (two) posted multi-goal games with Leontijevic accounting for the Tigers’ remaining tally. Goalie Julen Alonso (So., Madrid, Spain/IES Beatriz Galindo) stopped 13 shots in taking the loss.
Salem will now attempt to claim Fifth Place in the six-team championship field by topping Washington & Jefferson at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 28, at the Hallman Aquatics Center. Historically, the Tigers are guaranteed to finish outside the Top Four of the championship for the first time as the squad previously notched Second (2018), Third (2019, 2017) and Fourth (2016) place marks in the four prior MAWPC-West Championships.
The Salem-W&J game will deliver a definitive answer to a seeding question from the championship and provide one of the two program’s with its inaugural victory of the season.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing the Tigers and Presidents from competing during the regular season – and with both teams winless at 0-3 (Salem) and 0-4 (W&J) coming into the event – the No. 5 and 6 seeds were determined by goal differential against common opponents.
Washington & Jefferson claimed the No. 5 seed as the Presidents lost to Gannon (14-10 L), Mount St. Mary’s (17-8 L) and Mercyhurst (17-8 L) for a 48-28 differential (-20), while Salem lost to Gannon (15-7 L), Mount St. Mary’s (18-10 L) and Mercyhurst (20-7 L) for a 53-24 differential (-29). Due to the smaller goal differential, the Presidents received the No. 5 seed and a berth in Bracket A with No. 1 seed McKendree and No. 4 seed Mercyhurst.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Salem University | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 10 |
| Mount St. Mary’s University | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | – | 15 |
| Mount St. Mary’s Goals: | Jason O’Donnell (7); Eli Thalos (3); Jason Fitch (2); Brock Cuday; Matthew Schwanke; Ben Dable | |||||
| Salem Goals: | Chad Rowley (4); Ivan Zivojinovic (3); Goncalo Silva (2); Petar Leontijevic | |||||
| Saves: | Mount St. Mary’s – Marko Kruska (13) ; Salem – Julen Alonso (13) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Mount St. Mary’s – 8 ; Salem – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Mount St. Mary’s – 3-for-9 ; Salem – 2-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Mount St. Mary’s – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; Salem – 1-for-4 (1st) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Andre St. Omer Roy ; Elijah Fellers | |||||
Mount St. Mary’s University’s Ben Dable (#9) and Salem University’s Saequan Miller (#8) pursue a loose ball
Mount St. Mary’s University’s Jason O’Donnell (#5) shoots over Salem University’s Ivan Zivojinovic (#2)
Mount St. Mary’s University’s Jason O’Donnell (#5) defends Salem University’s Goncalo Silva (#16)
Mount St. Mary’s University’s Jason O’Donnell (#5) goes up for a loose ball against Salem University’s Saequan Miller (#8)
