No. 19 Brown University-vs.-St. Francis College Brooklyn (NWPC Championship – Third Place Sheet 1)
No. 19 Brown University-vs.-St. Francis College Brooklyn (NWPC Championship – Third Place Sheet 2)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Following nearly 41 minutes of back-and-forth action, No. 19-ranked Brown University’s Armen Deirmenjian (Sr., Beverly Hills, Calif./Loyola) put away the game-winner in sudden death overtime with 14 seconds left in the period as the Bears defeated St. Francis College Brooklyn, 19-18, in the 2019 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship Third Place game hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Brown (22-12, 6-4 NWPC) claims the season series against the Terriers as the Bears claimed an 11-10 win at home in Providence (R.I.) on November 3 and suffered a 16-14 setback in Brooklyn Heights (N.Y.) on October 5.
Tied at 12-all entering the fourth quarter, St. Francis Brooklyn (19-14, 5-5 NWPC) went ahead at 13-12 via a score by Zane Drobenko (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Sage Hill) 15 seconds into the frame. James Thygesen (Sr., Menlo Park, Calif./Menlo School) tied the game at 6:23 prior to Leo Berkman (Fr., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) providing the Bears their first lead of the game at 14-13 with 5:53 left in regulation.
St. Francis Brooklyn turned the tables on Brown over the next four minutes as Dominick Hevesi (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Ferenc Kolcsey) tossed in a man-up chance and Alexander Teplitsky (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) connected on another power-play bid with 1:57 remaining to push the Terriers ahead 15-14 with the clock winding down on a comeback by the Bears.
However, Deirmenjian proved to be a hero twice in the game – once in regulation and again in sudden victory – as he broke free to fire home a man-up tally with 1:06 left to knot the score at 15-all and force overtime.
Similar to the pattern throughout the game, the Terriers pulled ahead and Brown responded as William Simpson (Fr., Wellington, New Zealand/Saint Kentigern College) netted a marker 17 seconds into the first OT frame (2:43) to provide Saint Francis Brooklyn a 16-15 margin.
Andrew Penner (So., Atherton, Calif./Deerfield Academy (Mass.) and 2019 NWPC Rookie of the Year Cole Atwell (Fr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) punched in an equalizer (1:58, even-strength) and a go-ahead goal (59 seconds, man-up), respectively, to hand their team a 17-16 lead heading into the second overtime period.
Brown appeared poised to terminate the game without sudden death/victory as Berkman beat hit the back of the netting with 1:38 left in the three-minute period to build the Bears’ margin to 18-16.
With the clock in their favor and the Terriers needing to score twice to force sudden death, Brown appeared on the doorstep of a win.
Then the door slammed shut as Vladimir Mickic (Fr., Subotica, Serbia/Nikola Tesla) ripped in a man-up chance (1:14) and Hevesi lined in a five-meter penalty shot (seven seconds) to set the Bears back on their heels and tie the score at 18-all.
Neither team was able to put away the golden goal until Deirmenjian played hero a second time with 16 ticks prior to a second sudden death period to terminate the game and both Brown and St. Francis’ seasons with a snap of his arm.
For Brown, Berkman finished five goals to go along with three by both Thygesen and Deirmenjian. Penner and Atwell contributed pairs with Adam Fuller (Jr., Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos), Gabe Kaplan (So., Santa Monica, Calif./Harvard-Westlake School), Nick Berry (Fr., San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) and Stephen Salle (So., Chadds Ford, Pa./Malvern Prep) each racking up solo tallies.
Goalie Ugo Piovan (So., Vouliagmeni, Greece/Athens College) made 14 saves in earning the win.
For St. Francis Brooklyn, Hevesi netted a game-high six goals with Simpson (four), Mickic (two), Nikola Nikolic (Fr., Nis, Serbia/First Nis Grammar School Stevan Sremac) (two), Drobenko (two) and Teplitsky (two) also posting multi-goal outputs in the clash.
Terriers’ goalies Gianmarco Serio (Fr., Leipzig, Germany/BSZ Anne Frank Plauen) and Djordje Stolijkovic (Fr., Nis, Serbia/First Grammar School Steven Sremac) combined for 10 saves.
The final score does not reflect the majority of the contest as St. Francis Brooklyn led until the 5:53 mark of the fourth quarter.
Teplitsky (6:52, even-strength) and Hevesi (6:10, penalty shot) broke the ice for the Terriers in the game by drilling in back-to-back shots to open the contest and establish a 2-0 lead for SFC.
Berkman cut Brown’s deficit in half at 5:55 with a sinking shot prior to Simpson getting on the board at 4:05 to return the Terriers’ lead to a pair at 3-1.
Atwell cut it 3-2 at 3:45, Simpson expanded the gap to a pair at 4-2 via a man-up score at 3:21 and Deirmenjian answered for the Bears at 3:07 to again shave the deficit back to one at 4-3.
Simpson wrapped up a first quarter hat-trick at 2:57 to again hand SFC a two-goal lead at 5-3, but the Bears refused to fall further behind as Berry bombed in a counterpoint at 2:43 to make it 5-4.
The back-and-forth finally concluded as NIkolic (2:08, man-up) and Drobenko (45 seconds, even-strength) connected for consecutive strikes to set the scoreboard at 7-4 with the clock winding down to the conclusion of the first quarter.
Once again, however, Brown refused to gall too far behind their foe as Berkman stuffed in a shot with 23 seconds left to shrink the Bears’ deficit down to a pair at 7-5 after eight minutes of offensive fireworks.
St. Francis widened the chasm between the two teams in the opening moments of the second quarter as Hevesi (6:55) and NIkolic (5:17) hurled in extra-man chances to permit the Terriers to acquire a four-goal lead at 9-5.
Trailing by a sizable amount and on the verge of the falling potentially too far behind to pose a viable threat in the second half, Brown raced down the tank to begin climbing back into the contest.
First, Kaplan deposited a power-play bid at 4:52 prior to Thygesen discovering the back of the cage with a natural score at 3:55 to inch the Bears to within a pair at 9-7. Hevesi concluded Brown’s mini-run with a goal at the 13 seconds mark to give the Terriers a 10-7 lead at halftime.
However, the third quarter would prove to be a turning point in the contest as the Bears outscored St. Francis Brooklyn, 5-2, to deadlock the teams at 12-all heading into the fourth quarter.
Penner commenced the third quarter by cashing in on a man-up chance at 7:18 to again move Brown within a pair at 10-8. Mickic got the goal back at 5:10 to return the gap to three at 11-8, but Salle spun in an advantage opportunity with 3:40 left to again shrink the differential to a pair at 11-9.
Once more the Terriers returned their lead to a trio of tallies as Hevesi arched in a shot at 3:23, but Fuller (2:47, man-up), Thygesen (50 seconds, even-strength) and Berkman (five seconds, even-strength) achieved something that had not occurred since the 6:53 mark of the first quarter – when there was no score – tie the teams at 12-all and set the stage for the Bears’ run to victory.
The Third Place finish marks the second time in four NWPC Championships the squad has achieved the mark following prior Second (2016 at Princeton University), Third (2017 at Harvard University) and Fourth (2018 at home) Place conclusions.
St. Francis Brooklyn collects its third Fourth Place finish as the team previously wrapped-up the year at Fourth (2016, 2017) and Third (2018) in the final league standings.
Overall, the meeting of Brown and St. Francis was the third time in as many years the two programs met in the Third Place game with Brown taking the 2017 meeting by an 11-9 count before the Terriers returned the favor with a 13-9 win in 2018.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | OT1 | OT2 | OTSD | – | FINAL | |
| St. Francis College Brooklyn | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 18 |
| No. 19 Brown University | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 19 |
| Brown Goals: | Leo Berkman (5); James Thygesen (3); Armen Deirmenjian (3); Andrew Penner (2); Cole Atwell (2); Adam Fuller; Gabe Kaplan; Nick Berry; Stephen Salle | ||||||||
| SFC Goals: | Dominick Hevesi (6); William Simpson (4); Vladimir Mickic (2); Nikola Nikolic (2); Zane Drobenko (2); Alex Teplitsky (2) | ||||||||
| Saves: | Brown – Ugo Piovan (14) ; SFC – Gianmarco Serio (9, 32 minutes), Djordje Stolijkovic (1, 8:44) | ||||||||
| Exclusions: | Brown – 17 ; SFC – 18 | ||||||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Brown – 6-for-18 ; SFC – 9-for-17 | ||||||||
| Sprints: | Brown – 3-for-7 (3rd, 4th, 7th) ; SFC – 4-for-7 (1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th) | ||||||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Brown – YC (Head coach Felix Mercado, 3:18 left in 2nd Q), YC (Matt Simko, 4:02 left in 4th Q), YC/RC (Head coach Felix Mercado, 2:08 left in 4th Q) | ||||||||
| Officials: | Tony Karaman ; Val Vasilchikov | ||||||||
St. Francis College Brooklyn’s Domnick Hevesi (#7) rises to shoot over Brown University’s Galen Hu (#13)
Brown University’s Stephen Salle (#3) defends St. Francis College Brooklyn’s Nikola Nikolic (#12)
Brown University’s James Thygesen (#5) cocks to shoot as St. Francis College Brooklyn’s Matheus Santos (#10) tries for a field block
