ERIE, Pa. — Mathieu Davis (Jr., Montego Bay, Jamaica/Wolmer’s Boys’ School) scored nine goals – including five in the decisive second quarter – as No. 4 seed Mercyhurst University rallied from a 4-3 deficit at the end of the first quarter to top No. 5 seed Washington & Jefferson College, 17-12, in Bracket A competition at the Winter 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Championship.
Competing at the David M. Hallman III Aquatics Center in Erie, the host Lakers appeared primed to run away with the game in the opening 94 seconds of competition. Brennan Cumby (Fr., Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) broke the ice for the Lakers by cashing in on a man-up opportunity 39 seconds into the game. Derek Kagen (So., San Diego, Calif./Clairemont) followed with a natural marker with 6:26 left in the frame to push Mercyhurst out to a 2-0 lead and keep Washington & Jefferson on its heels.
However, the Presidents went on the attack as Andrew Edwards (So., Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) put W&J on the scoreboard at 5:17 prior to Will Kitsch (Jr., Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) lining in back-to-back opportunities at 4:19 and 3:47 to turn a two-goal deficit into a one-score lead at 3-2.
Kagen pulled Mercyhurst even at three-all with his second strike of the opening quarter by swishing a man-up chance with exactly three minutes on the clock. The Presidents, however, vetoed the tie as Tyler Francis (Sr., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) fired in the go-ahead score 14 seconds later to provide Washington & Jefferson a 4-3 lead after eight minutes of action.
Mercyhurst – which finished the regular season with a 2-3 record including a 17-8 defeat of W&J at the Hallman Aquatics Center on February 20 – did not trail for long in the second quarter thanks to Davis.
The Lakers balanced the scoreboard 59 seconds into the new frame (7:01) as Davis deposited his first of five second quarter goals into the back of the cage. Following a successful five-meter penalty shot by Davis at 6:32 to give Mercyhurst a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way, Kagen padded the margin by completing a hat-trick thirty seconds later (6:02) to make it a two-goal game at 6-4.
Ryan Bannon (So., Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield) terminated the Lakers’ three-score run at 5:51 to move W&J back to within one at 6-5, but a man-up tally from Davis reinflated the margin to a pair at 7-5 with 4:27 until intermission.
Chris Edwards (Fr., Bexley, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) chipped the Presidents’ deficit back down to one at 7-6 with his inaugural goal of the contest at 2:19, but Mercyhurst’s Jamaican connection did the rest of the damage to provide the Lakers a 10-6 lead through 16 minutes of competition.
Joel Parnell (Jr., Saint Andrew, Jamaica/Wolmer’s Boys’ School) started the surge to the halftime horn by hitting a shot at 2:05 prior to Davis hammering home even-strength (1:33) and man-up (1:14) tallies to widen the lead to four heading into the break.
Bannon attempted to pull W&J back into the contest by burying a feed 28 seconds (7:32) into the third quarter to cut the Presidents’ deficit to three at 10-7.
However, a natural goal from Kagen (5:08) and a man-up marker by Davis (4:12) made it a five-score contest at 12-7.
Washington & Jefferson managed to shave Mercyhurst’s lead down to four prior to the conclusion of the third quarter as Andrew Edwards (2:39) and Kitsch (39 seconds) sandwiched a response by Michael Gutman (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Saint Charles Prep) at 1:05 to make it a 13-9 game through 24 minutes of competition.
The spread grew in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter as Aleksa Vucurovic (Jr., Novi Sad, Serbia/Cy Fair) and Davis swished shots at 6:46 and 4:40, respectively, to provide Mercyhurst a nearly insurmountable lead at 15-9 with under five minutes of play.
W&J refused to fall silently, however, as Chris Edwards (4:14, even-strength) and Kyle Rubenstein (Jr., Abington, Pa./Upper Dublin) (3:18, man-up) pulled the Presidents back to within four at 15-11.
Davis dashed any hopes of a comeback as he stroked in man-up (2:11) and five-meter penalty shot (1:35) goals to inflate the lead to a game-high six goals (17-11).
Kitsch closed out the scoring by punching in his fourth strike of the game with 13 ticks left on the clock for the 17-12 final score.
For Mercyhurst – which can now finish no lower than Fourth Place in the final six-team championship standings – Davis (nine) and Kagen (four) both eclipsed the hat-trick mark. Purnell, Vucurovic, Gutman and Cumby each accounted for solo tallies in support of a 14 save performance by goalie Nash Greeven (Jr., Vista, Calif./Cathedral Catholic).
The 2016 MAWPC-West Champion, Mercyhurst is guaranteed to continue its trend of never finishing outside the Top Four as the Lakers have previously placed first (2016), second (2017) and fourth (2018, 2019) in the four prior championships.
Washington & Jefferson – which dropped a 26-9 game to No. 1 seed McKendree University in the opening game of the MAWPC-West Championship – received four goals from Kitsch. Chris Edwards, Andrew Edwards and Bannon each tacked on pairs, while Francis and Rubenstein both found the back of the cage once.
In cage, Alex Lee (So., Los Angeles, Calif./Eagle Rock) turned aside 11 saves with Francis making two stops.
Due to the losses to both McKendree and Mercyhurst, the Presidents finish third in Bracket A and will compete in the Fifth Place game against the Third Place finisher in Bracket B at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 28. W&J can potentially face either Gannon University, Mount St. Mary’s University or Salem University. This year, the Presidents are 0-1 against both Gannon (14-10 L) and Mount St. Mary’s (17-8 L) with no prior meetings in 2021 versus Salem.
Historically, W&J has previously placed fifth (2019, 2016), sixth (2018) and eighth (2017) at the MAWPC-West Championship.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | -The | FINAL | |
| Washington & Jefferson College |
4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | – | 12 |
| Mercyhurst University | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4 | – | 17 |
| Mercyhurst Goals: | Mathieu Davis (9); Derek Kagen (4); Joel Purnell; Aleksa Vucurovic; Michael Gutman; Brennan Cumby | |||||
| Washington & Jefferson Goals: | Will Kitsch (4); Chris Edwards (2); Ryan Bannon (2); Andrew Edwards (2); Tyler Francis; Kyle Rubenstein | |||||
| Saves: | Mercyhurst – Nash Greeven (14) ; Washington & Jefferson – Alex Lee (11, 24 minutes), Tyler Francis (2, 8 minutes) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Mercyhurst – 5 ; Washington & Jefferson – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Mercyhurst – 8-for-11 ; Washington & Jefferson – 1-for-5 | |||||
| Sprints: | Mercyhurst – 0-or-4; Washington & Jefferson – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – W&J (Head coach Nikola Malezanov, 4:57 left in 1st Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Jason Grubb; Igor Mernenko | |||||
Mercyhurst University’s Benjamin Villareal (#13) attempts to shoot over Washington & Jefferson College’s Robert Koch (#10)
Mercyhurst University’s Aleksa Vucurovic (#4)
Mercyhurst University’s Dylan Shaffer (#6) defends against Washington & Jefferson College
Mercyhurst University’s Mathieu Davis (#9)
