BRONX, N.Y. — The quartet of Finn Banks (Jr., Portola Valley, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep), Josh Kurtz (Sr., El Cajon, Calif./Granite Hills), Andreas Katsis (Sr., San Mateo, Calif./Menlo School) and Jayden Kunwar (Fr., Woodside, Calif./Menlo) all posted hat-tricks with three goals to share Player of the Game accolades as the Division III No. 10-ranked Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays dispatched Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Champion McKendree University, 18-6, to reach the Fifth Place game of the 2018 MAWPC Championship at Fordham University’s Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center.
In the Fifth Place game at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 18, Hopkins (8-18, 2-10 MAWPC-East) will face the United States Naval Academy. Navy, which downed La Salle University by a 14-10 final score earlier in the day, will battle the Blue Jays for the third time in 2018 following earlier 15-11 and 13-7 defeats of Hopkins.
Johns Hopkins never trailed against McKendree (11-12, 3-3 MAWPC-West) as the team raced out to a 5-0 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter and never looked back in burning the Bearcats for 5-3, 4-2 and 4-2 scoring advantages in the second, third and fourth quarters to coast to victory.
Beyond the quartet of Banks, Kurtz, Katsis and Kunwar, JHU received pairs of goals form Emerson Sullivan (Fr., San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) and Jake Pearson (Fr., Key Biscayne, Fla./Ransom Everglades) to accompany solo markers by Ryan Masi (Sr., Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) and Olin Shipstead (So., Los Angeles, Calif./Agoura).
In cage, Spencer Witte (Sr., Los Altos, Calif./Menlo School) earned the win with four saves.
For McKendree, Matthew Haygood (Fr., Chino Hills ,Calif./Chino Hills) scored three times with Joseph Mahan (Jr., Corinth, Texas/John H Guyer) and Ben Brauer (Fr., Duisburg, Germany/Steinbart-Gymnasium Duisburg) putting away two and one, respectively.
Between the pipes, Ori Scanlon (So., Orlando, Fla./Olympia) made three saves in the first half with 10 goals allowed to suffer the loss. Marko Vucetic (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/Redstar Academy) stopped three shots in the third quarter with four goals permitted before Bryce Tully (Fr., Yucaipa, Calif./Yucaipa) came on to stop two shots with four goals allowed in the fourth quarter.
The loss drops McKendree – which is making its first appearance at the MAWPC Championship – into the Seventh Place contest against another newcomer – La Salle. The two squads will clash at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 18 in the season finale for both teams.
The Seventh Place game will mark the third meeting in the history of both programs as La Salle did not face McKendree during the 2018 regular season, but did meet their former West Region competition in 2017 (12-7 W, September 23) at Washington & Jefferson College during the Bearcats’ inaugural varsity season. In 2016, the Explorers dropped a 16-8 game to McKendree on September 3 at Navy during the Bearcats first game as a club team before moving up to the varsity ranks in 2017.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| McKendree University | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | 6 |
| Johns Hopkins University | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | – | 18 |
| Hopkins Goals: | Finn Banks (3); Josh Kurtz (3); Andreas Katsis (3); Jayden Kunwar (3); Emerson Sullivan (2); Jake Pearson (2); Ryan Masi; Olin Shipstead | |||||
| McKendree Goals: | Matthew Haygood (3); Joseph Mahan (2); Ben Brauer | |||||
| Saves: | Hopkins – Spencer Witte (4) ; McKendree – Ori Scanlon (3, 16 minutes), Marko Vucetic (4, 8 minutes), Bryce Tully (2, 8 minutes) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Hopkins – 10 ; McKendree – 17 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Hopkins – 7-for-17 ; McKendree – 3-for-10 | |||||
| Sprints: | Hopkins – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) ; McKendree – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Hopkins (Ryan Masi, 3:13 left in 4th Q); YC – McKendree (Head coach Colleen Lischwe, 3:13 left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Michael Gordon, Val Vasilchikov | |||||
Johns Hopkins University’s Nico Ivanov (#5)
McKendree University’s Joseph Mahan (#7) passes the ball as Johns Hopkins University’s Jake Pearson (#11) closes in
Johns Hopkins University’s Jacob Whitaker (#14)
