ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Gannon University’s Zarko Sadikovic (Jr., Nis, Serbia/GTS Neimar) lined a shot on a 45-degree angle from the right side of the cage inside the left post to complete a hat-trick for the deciding factor as the Golden Knights claimed a 13-12 win in sudden death overtime against Mercyhurst University for Seventh Place at the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship.
Competing at the United States Naval Academy’s Lejeune Hall, Gannon (18-8, 7-0 MAWPC-West Region) survived in a topsy-turvy game in which the Golden Knights ran out to a 6-1 lead with 3:24 left in the second quarter prior to needing to stave off the Lakers after regulation and overtime.
The fourth meeting of the year between the two crosstown Erie rivals, Gannon improved to 4-0 against Mercyhurst (11-13, 6-1 MAWPC-West Region) with previous wins on September 19 (10-8 W) and October 15 (16-12 W) in regular season play prior to claiming a 15-10 win in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-West Region Championship tournament title game on November 5 at the David M. Hallman Aquatics Center in Erie.
Gannon appeared destined to run away with the contest as Jack Donnelly (So., Temecula, Calif./Chapparal), Sadikovic and Nick Williams (Sr., Bainbridge, Island, Wash./Bainbridge Island) rattled off even-strength strikes with 4:34, 1:25 and 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter to provide the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead.
Mercyhurst got on the board 22 seconds into the second quarter as Connor Schmitz (Jr., Schaumburg, Ill./James B. Conant) stuffed in a shot at 7:38 to make it 3-1. However, Gannon went on another 3-0 run with Gilberto Milan (Sr., Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Jose) putting away a chance at 7:19 prior to Donnelly wrapping up a hat-trick with consecutive tallies at the 3:50 and 3:24 marks to build the lead to 6-1.
The Lakers closed out the first half with power-play conversions by Alec Diaz (Jr., Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona) and Otis Tyson (Jr., Newark, N.J./Saint Benedict’s) with 2:59 and 2:20 remaining in the frame, respectively, to move Mercyhurst within 6-3 by halftime.
Mercyhurst shaved its deficit down to 6-4 in the opening minutes of the second half as Daniel Alvarez (So., Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) lined in a five-meter penalty shot (6:32) prior to Williams getting the score back at 6:16 to return a three-goal lead to Gannon at 7-4.
The margin continued to sway between two and three scores as Schmitz (5:21, even-strength) and Tony Squeglia (Fr., Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) (4:49, man-up) traded tallies for the Lakers and Golden Knights to shrink the lead to 7-5 prior to expanding to 8-5.
The pattern continued with Matt Bachler (Jr., Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) and Ethan Hamp (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) finding the back of the cage for Mercyhurst and Gannon at 3:13 and 56 seconds, respectively, prior to Ryan Witoslawski (So., Harleysville, Pa./Souderton Area) chipping the gap back to two with 44 seconds remaining to make it 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Schmitz put more pressure on Gannon with 5:30 on the final quarter of regulation’s clock by sweeping in a man-up bid to move the Lakers within one at 9-8.
Gannon, however, began to pull away with Milan (3:58) and Hamp (3:28) sliding balls into the cage to provide the Golden Knights’ a nearly insurmountable 11-8 lead with under three and a half minutes to play.
Almost is not guaranteed, however, as Alex Cappuccio (So., Havre de Grace, Md./Calvert Hall) bounced in a power-play chance at 2:43 prior to Alvarez playing superhero with back-to-back strikes at 2:13 and 1:57 to knot the score at 11-all.
Neither team could solve the other’s defense the rest of the way to set-up overtime.
Similar to the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, offense went by the wayside in the first three-minute OT period as the two longtime foes found ways to flummox their opponent’s offensive attempts to keep the squads squared at 11-all heading into the second OT frame.
After an additional two minutes of scoreless water polo, Mercyhurst went in front for the first time in the contest as Witoslawski punched in a ball with 53 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a 12-11 lead.
Gannon responded, however, as Sadikovic foreshadowed his game-winner in sudden death by firing a crossing shot into the cage with 17 seconds left to knot the score at 12-all.
He put an end to the game 51 seconds into sudden death by beating Lakers’ goalie Andrew Too-A-Foo (Gr., Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/Fatima College) over his left shoulder with another crossing shot for the 13-12 final score.
For Gannon, Donnelly and Sadikovic led the way with hat-tricks, while Milan, Hamp and Williams deposited pairs of goals. Squeglia added a solo marker.
In cage, Brett Rehrer (Jr., Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) claimed Player of the Game notice for turning away 13 shots, including three in overtime to allow the Golden Knights to escape with a one-goal victory.
Schmitz and Alvarez keyed Mercyhurst with hat-tricks. Witoslawski (two), Bachler, Tyson, Cappuccio and Diaz posted the remainder of the Lakers’ offense in support of an eight-save effort by Too-A-Foo.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | OT1 | OT2 | SD OT | – | FINAL | |
| Mercyhurst University | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 12 |
| Gannon University | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | 13 |
| Gannon Goals: | Jack Donnelly (3); Zarko Sadikovic (3); Gilberto Milan (2); Nick Williams (2); Ethan Hamp (2); Tony Squeglia | ||||||||
| Merchyhurst Goals: | Connor Schmitz (3); Daniel Alvarez (3); Ryan Witoslawski (2); Matt Bachler; Otis Tyson; Alex Cappuccio; Alec Diaz | ||||||||
| Saves: | Gannon – Brett Rehrer (13) ; Mercyhurst – Andrew Too-A-Foo (8) | ||||||||
| Exclusions: | Gannon – 12 ; Mercyhurst – 7 | ||||||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Gannon – 2-for-7 ; Mercyhurst – 5-for-12 | ||||||||
| Sprints: | Gannon – 1-for-7 (7th) ; Mercyhurst – 6-for-7 (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th) | ||||||||
| Officials: | Hadi Farid, Michael Schofield | ||||||||
Photo 1: Gannon University’s Zarko Sadikovic (#5) looks to pass as Mercyhurst Univeristy’s Otis Tyson (#14) defends; Photo 2: Mercyhurst University’s Andrew Howe (#17) eyes an opening as Gannon University’s NIck Williams (#11) defends; Photo 3: Gannon University’s Jack Donnelly (#3); Photo 4: Gannon University’s Zarko Sadikovic (#5) looks to dump off a pass as Mercyhurst University’s Alex Cappuccio (#4) and goalie Andrew-Too-A-Foo (#1) gear up for a steal
