FRESNO, Calif. — Theodoros Pateros (Gr., Glyfada, Greece/Papacharalabeio) scored seven goals on 10 shots and drew a pair of exclusions as No. 19-ranked George Washington University snuffed out the host Fresno Pacific University Sunbirds, 23-11.
The Colonials trailed twice in the game as Jacob Renevier drew first blood for Fresno Pacific 32 seconds into the game prior to Pateros burying an equalizer with 7:12 on the first quarter clock. The Sunbirds pulled back in front 12 seconds later as Thilo Popp lined in a man-up strike to hand FPU a 2-1 lead one minute into the game.
However, the duo of Mateus Stellet (Gr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Stucom Centre D’Estudis) and Pateros turned the tide in favor of George Washington. Stellet swished back-to-back natural tallies at 5:44 and 5:15 prior to Pateros putting away another marker at 4:40 to put the Colonials ahead 4-2 – lead the team never relinquished through the contest’s closing horn.
Popp (4:15) and Michael Wheeler (Gr., Lafayette, Calif./Campolindo) (3:59) exchanged man-up scoring blows to make it 5-3 before Forrest Gray (3:35) moved the Sunbirds to within one at 5-4. Andrija Sekulic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/Savremena Gimnazija) responded for GW with a man-up tally at 2:36 as the Colonials exited the game’s first eight minutes with a 6-4 lead.
Following a strike at 7:28 by Samuel Ramos to move Fresno Pacific back to within one at 6-5 in the dawning minute of the second quarter, the Colonials cushioned their lead via scoring volleys from Sekulic (7:16, 5:05), Viktor Jovanovic (Jr., Calgary, Canada/E.P. Scarlett) (6:47) and Pateros (4:32, 3:16) to acquire an 11-5 advantage on the scoreboard.
Jacob Renevier attempted to close the gap with man-up (2:42) and natural (1:59) markers to move Fresno Pacific to within 11-7, but Wheeler (1:38) and Antonin Kralj (Sr., Cavtat, Croatia/Santa Margarita Catholic (Calif.)) (16 seconds) capped off a seven-goal second quarter onslaught by the Colonials to stake George Washington to a 13-7 lead entering halftime.
The teams traded scoring blows in the third quarter as Pateros (7:43, 5:03) and Jovanovic (1:54) delivered for GW, while Will Green (7:05 man-up, 6:20 penalty shot) and Peitro Cattano (1:26) dented the twine for Fresno Pacific to make it a 16-10 game heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
The Colonials put any doubt about the contest’s eventual outcome to rest in short order during the fourth quarter as Pateros (7:41), Sekulic (7:06, 6:04), Wheeler (6:35), Nik Schoening (Jr., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) (3:39, man-up), Ford Bruggen (Jr., Kensington, Md./Landon School) (1:46, man-up) and Leo Lueddemann (So., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) (34 seconds) put away seven combined goals to make it a 23-10 game with approximately 30 seconds left on the clock.
Will Hoyle closed the final gap to 12 by converting am FPU man-up chance with four seconds left for the 23-11 final score.
Sekulic finished with five goals in the game, Wheeler deposited three to accompany pairs by Stellet and Jovanovic to join Pateros in combining for 19 of the Colonials’ 23 scores. Lueddemann, Schoening, Bruggen and Kralj also found the back of the cage in support of a 12 save effort by goalkeeper Luca Castorina (Jr., Catania, Sicily/Liceo Galileo Galiilei).
Across the tank, Renevier (three), Popp (two) and Green (two) posted multi-goal games. Ramos, Cattano, Gray and Hoyle each netted solo markers. Ethan McLaughlin stopped seven shots in cage for the Sunbirds.
