BRONX, N.Y. — Ivan Zivojinovic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/Nikola Tesla High School of Electrical Engineering) scored six times and the trio of Marko Zivojinovic (Fr., Belgrade, Serbia/Sports Gymnasium), Nikola Krstonosic (So., Becej, Serbia/Economic Trade School of Becej) and Manuel Soto Estela (Jr., San Juan, Puerto Rico/St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)) each tallied three markers as Salem University overwhelmed Wagner College, 17-13, in the opening round of the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship hosted by Fordham University.
Competing at the Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center, the Tigers exploited 5-4 and 6-2 scoring advantages in the first and fourth quarters, respectively, to acquire enough offensive output to stymie the Seahawks and advance Salem into a semifinal showdown with the victor of a quarterfinal pitting host/No. 19-ranked Fordham and McKendree University. McKendree opened the 2022 MAWPC Championship by outjousting the Gannon University Golden Knights, 16-11.
Salem – which dropped a 21-6 game to Wagner during the regular season – jumped out to an early lead as Ivan Zivojinovic stuffed in a shot at the 6:32 mark of the first quarter. Wagner answered as Zsombor Gyeman (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Ady Endre) converted a man-up chance at 5:59 and connected for a natural strike at 5:16 to push the Seahawks ahead 2-1. Ivan Zivojinovic returned the favor by ripping in man-up (4:25) and even-strength (3:47) scores to flip the tables once again, but Oliver Fodor (Sr., Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istvan Gimnazium) (3:28) swished an equalizer to knot the games at three-all.
The back-and-forth continued over the remainder of the first quarter as Soto Estela (2:49, man-up), Ben Zovickian (Sr., San Francisco, Calif./Saint Ignatius College Preparatory) (1:21) and NIkola Cvetkovic (Fr., Belgrade, Serbia/The Secondary School of Economics) (1:08, man-up) as the lead swayed from 4-3 in favor of Salem, to a four-all tie and back to a 5-4 Tigers’ advantage through eight minutes of competition.
The back-and-forth continued until halftime as Ryan Lanier (Jr., Seabrook, Texas/Clear Falls) tied the game 48 seconds into the second quarter before Kristian Stanczewski (So., Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) put Wagner into the lead at 6-5 with 5:34 on the clock.
Salem erased Wagner’s advantage on the scoreboard, however, as Marko Zivojinovic (4:14) and Cvetkovic (3:09) delivered counterpoints for the Tigers to place the West Virginia squad in front at 7-6.
The teams exchanged scores over the remaining three minutes as Laszlo Strasser (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Scheiber Sandor Primary School and College) squared the squads at seven-all by cashing in a six-on-five bid at 2:01. Marko Zivojinovic returned the lead to Salem prior to the halftime horn by arching a shot into the cage with eight seconds left to make it 8-7 in favor of the Tigers through 16 minutes of action.
The teams continuously failed to separate themselves throughout the third quarter as Fodor (6:41, man-up) and Shaked Yacoby (Sr, Hod HaSharon, Israel/Mosenson Hod HaSharon) (5:11) put Wagner ahead at 9-8 less than three minutes into the second half.
Krstonosic delivered for Salem at 4:03 (man-up) to even the damage at nine-all, but Fodor struck again at 3:22 to once again provide the Seahawks a narrow one-goal lead at 10-9.
Following a tying tally by Ivan Zivojinovic (1:56) and another go-ahead heave by Strasser (1:07) to place Wagner back in front at 11-10, Soto Estela played hero by forcing the 11th tie of the game with 47 seconds left as the teams entered the fourth quarter deadlocked at 11-all.
Kyle Chambers (So., Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake Village) returned the lead to Wagner at 12-11 52 seconds (7:08) into the fourth quarter, but a successful five-meter penalty shot by Marko Zivojinovic at 6:53 tied the game for the 12th time.
The goal provided Salem the momentum it needed to clip the Seahawks’ wings and claim victory as Soto Estela (6:12), Ivan Zivojinovic (5:26, 59 seconds) and Krstonosic (2:49, 1:23) followed to cap-off a 6-0 run to gain a 17-12 lead with under a minute to play in regulation.
Lanier delivered one final blow for Wagner as the junior drilled in a man-up opportunity with 26 seconds left to establish the 17-13 final score.
Due to the loss, Wagner – which previously placed Second (2017), Third (2018), Fourth (2021) and Fifth (2016, 2019) at the MAWPC Championship – retains a chance to finish among the Top Five once more if the team can defeat the loser of a quarterfinal pitting Fordham-vs.-McKendree University. A victory in the program’s next game at 2:20 p.m. on Saturday, November 19, will put the Seahawks in the Fifth Place game – a spot from which the team previously came out victorious in 2016 (vs. the United States Naval Academy, 16-13 W) and 2019 (vs. Johns Hopkins University, 14-11 W).
Fodor led Wagner with three goals, while Strasser, Gyemant and Lanier each scored twice. Chambers, Yacoby, Stanczewski and Zovickian each netted solo markers in support of a four-save effort by goalie Adam Wuthrich (So., Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit College Preparatory).
For Salem – which claims its first MAWPC Championship victory after never qualifying for the event from the MAWPC-West Division when the league was divided into East and West Regions from 2016-to-2021 – Cvetkovic scored twice to join Ivan Zivojinovic, Mark Zivojinovic, Krstonosic and Soto Estela in notching multi-goal games.
Duarte Costa (So., Lisbon, Portugal/Nivel Secundario de Educacao) was the difference in the contest as the Tigers’ goalkeeper made 14 saves – including five in the first quarter and four in the third quarter – to keep Salem in the game until the program’s fourth quarter scoring surge.
