CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Senior James Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) scored four goals to lead Brown University men’s water polo past Wagner College, 10-9, at Blodgett Pool to open the 2019 Harvard University Invitational.
Playing in the first of four games on the weekend, the Bears used a 3-0 run to start the second half to turn a 7-7 tie into a 10-7 advantage in the third quarter, improving their record to 3-0 against the Seahawks this season.
“Wagner is a good team who we have seen three times now so both teams are very familiar with one another,” said Brown head coach Felix Mercado. “We stepped up our defense in the second half to only allow two goals. I’m glad we came out with the win. We know that we have three more challenging games ahead of us this weekend.”
Thygesen added an assist to his quartet of goals, while senior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) totaled one goal, two assists, one steal, three field blocks and four ejections drawn.
Freshman Leo Berkman (Orinda, Calif.) posted a goal, an assist, and two steals, and junior Aidan Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.) notched a goal and two field blocks. Senior Galen Hu (Colleyville, Texas), sophomore Andrew Penner (Atherton, Calif.) and freshman Nick Berry (San Anselmo, Calif.) each netted one goal. Freshman Cole Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) distributed a team-high three assists.
In the cage, junior goalkeeper Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) made nine saves in the second half.
Brown opened the game with a 3-1 lead midway through the first quarter behind goals from Berkman, Deirmenjian and Penner. Back-to-back tallies from Berry and Thygesen pushed the Bears ahead 5-2 before the Seahawks cut the margin to 5-4 at the end of the opening stanza.
After Wagner tied the score at 5-5, Thygesen gave Brown back a 6-5 edge. Following another Seahawks’ marker, Hu staked the Bears to a 7-6 advantage. The two teams then went into halftime tied at 7-7.
The Bears used a 3-0 run to start the second half to gain a degree of separation from the Seahawks. Thygesen started the streak with consecutive goals before Reilly scored to push Brown ahead 10-7 with 45 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Wagner netted its first goal of the second half with 18 seconds to go in the third and scored again with 5:31 to play in the fourth quarter before the Bears blanked the Seahawks over the remainder of the contest.
Brown improved to 3-0 against Wagner on the season behind a 13-10 (OT) win on September 7 and a 10-7 victory on September 14.
Release courtesy Brown University Athletics Communications
