WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the hours passed and the bus stayed in one slush-covered spot waiting in traffic to enter New York City, George Washington University men’s water polo found ways to pass the time.
Zach Slaughter rolled through a couple episodes of The Office. Isher Gill and Matt Taylor teamed up to complete a crossword puzzle. A group gathered around DJ Davis‘ laptop to watch a horror movie. Jack Kerwin took a nap.
Ultimately, those pursuits offered only temporary diversion from what turned into a 13 1/2 hour journey from Foggy Bottom to the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship last Thursday.
The Colonials spent most of the marathon road trip doing nothing in particular. They simply hung out, relaxed and tried to make the best of a tough situation, filling the time as friends tend to do with back-and-forth banter about the upcoming tournament and much, much more.
“I don’t know how, but we kept talking,” senior Brett Else said. “I don’t know how we kept coming up with that many topics to talk about without losing our minds.”
That inauspicious beginning provided a challenge before GW ever took to the pool at Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center. Once the MAWPC Championship began, the Colonials aced every test to earn a repeat title with three wins over as many days.
GW particularly proved its mettle in an epic battle with Bucknell in last Sunday’s final. The Bison took the lead on a goal with eight seconds left in regulation, but the Buff and Blue tied it on Atakan Destici‘s buzzer-beater and won it, 12-11, in overtime.
Afterward, the Colonials made a much shorter and more jubilant trip home with the championship plaque safely buckled in the front seat of the bus.
“The longest, best three days ever,” senior Slaughter said with a wide smile.
With its season on the line, GW pulled together and found a way to earn a return trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
That attitude should prove useful again as the Colonials face Princeton on Saturday in search of their first NCAA victory. A program that went 8-22 and winless in conference play just three years ago has built the mental fortitude to thrive in the pressure-packed moments.
“I think you saw our confidence and determination to play for each other,” said senior Kerwin. “We’re a very tight-knit group and just knowing that we all have each other’s back really helped us push and keep fighting.”
GW’s original itinerary for its MAWPC Championship trip had the squad arriving Thursday in time for a light workout at Fordham and a fancy Italian dinner. The Colonials never got to don their blazers and ties as they waited out the traffic jam caused by the winter weather. At one point, they moved about half a mile over a five-hour span waiting to cross the George Washington Bridge for the trip’s home stretch.
They ended up arriving at their hotel a little after midnight without a single stop along the way, but even at that moment, head coach Barry King felt good about their chances going forward.
“If there were fissures in the group, something like that bus ride would turn those fissures into the Grand Canyon, and we wouldn’t be talking about winning the championship right now, but these guys just genuinely like each other,” said King, who passed part of the trip watching clips from a Woodstock documentary. “Without having said it, I think they realized this was part of the journey and were ready to take the task on.”
From there, it was mostly business as usual for GW. King was concerned with the energy level early in Friday’s opener against No. 7 seed McKendree University, but his squad eventually woke up and claimed a 16-6 victory.
The Colonials looked more like themselves in the semifinals in beating No. 3 seed Wagner College, 16-14, to avenge a pair of regular season losses and set up a final matchup of the MAWPC’s last two champions.
GW’s upperclassmen had memories of falling to the Bison in the 2016 final. They were determined to flip the script, and they had to fight to the finish to do it.
“We talked a lot about living this last time around with no regrets by leaving everything in the pool,” said senior goalkeeper Austin Pyrch, who earned a spot on the All-Tournament First Team.
GW led by a goal heading into the final period before Bucknell tied it with 3:18 remaining and went ahead on Rade Joksimovic‘s score with only eight seconds left in regulation.
King called a 30-second timeout to set up the Colonials and called out instructions for a play they’d worked on in practice earlier in the week for just that situation.
“No one on the bench was saying ‘Oh, that’s it,'” Else said. “We didn’t give up.”
Needing a quick goal to extend the season, Pyrch hit Slaughter, who tossed it across the pool to Destici.
GW’s leading scorer was heavily guarded and expected to be fouled, but he quickly realized he needed to do something with time running out. His shot hit the net as time expired.
“The upper cage was empty, and I was just like ‘Let’s try it,'” Destici said. “When it was a goal, it was one of the best feelings.”
After an impassioned pep talk from Destici in the huddle before overtime, GW rode the momentum to victory.
The Colonials made a defensive stand to open the first of two three-minute periods before Nick Schroeder‘s goal gave them the lead for good. Two scores from Andrew Mavis and some clutch stops by Pyrch helped the Buff and Blue close out the title.
When it was over, everybody piled into the pool to celebrate, even King, who had stayed dry after the 2017 title.
“It was like such a cool, great moment that that’s how we did it,” Slaughter said. “That’s like all of our GW water polo experiences. It’s proving something. Nothing’s given. It’s going out there and working for it and grinding and getting it at the end.”
Now, GW has a chance to make more history on Saturday. The Colonials have been looking forward to another chance on the NCAA stage since falling in overtime last season at Harvard University last November in their debut at the national tournament.
This group will try to take the next step by beating Princeton to earn a shot against UCLA for a spot in the national semifinals. The confidence they gained last weekend, from snowy start to frantic finish, should help.
“It definitely shows how we can overcome so many obstacles,” Else said. “We’ve kind of been knocked down repeatedly, but we keep getting back up and keep getting stronger and keep moving forward.”
Release courtesy George Washington University Athletics Communications
