ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Division III No. 2-ranked Johns Hopkins University experienced a considerable victory and a narrow win in the Blue Jays’ first two games of the 2017 season as JHU stopped Washington & Jefferson College, 13-1, and clipped Gannon University, 12-11, on the first day of the United States Naval Academy’s Navy Open.
Facing fellow Division III Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) institution W&J, Johns Hopkins scored the game’s first nine goals.
The Blue Jays jumped in front of Washington & Jefferson, needing just 80 seconds to take a 3-0 lead in the season-opener. Junior Andreas Katsis struck first, scoring just 20 seconds in off a helper from senior co-captain Josh Kurtz. Junior Ryan Masi doubled the Blue Jays lead just 39 seconds later with senior co-captain Giorgio Cico lending a hand. Katsis added his second of the opening quarter at the 6:40-mark to stake the Blue Jays to that three-goal lead.
Sophomore Andres White pushed the lead to four with his first of the season with 4:07 to play in the quarter. Katsis and freshman John Murphy followed with back-to-back man-up goals and Hopkins took a 6-0 lead into the break.
The pace slowed in the remaining three quarters as the teams combined for just eight goals in the final 24 minutes.
Senior Ryan Greenwald scored to end a nearly six-minute scoring drought with 2:56 to play in the half and make it 7-0 Hopkins. Kurtz then scored as time expired on an assist from Cico to make it an eight-goal game at the half.
After not surrendering a goal on a Presidents’ man-up opportunity, sophomore Finn Banks answered with a Blue Jay goal at 6:11. Nicholas Spehar finally got Washington & Jefferson on the board with 2:38 to play in the third. Kurtz responded with his second of the game to make it 10-1 at the end of the third.
Freshman Oscar Goodell opened the fourth-quarter scoring with his first career goal at 4:56. Freshman Nico Ivanov then scored back-to-back goals in the final three minutes to round out the 13-1.
Hopkins is now 16-11 all-time in season openers under head coach Ted Bresnahan. The Blue Jays are 14-2 in their last 16 season openers.
The Blue Jays improve to 16-0 all-time against the Presidents and this is the Jays’ second straight double-digit win in the series.
Hopkins shut out an opponent for a quarter for the first time since October 23, 2016 when JHU kept San Jose State University scoreless in the fourth quarter. This was the first time Hopkins had shut out an opponent for consecutive quarters since November 7, 2015 in an 8-4 win over Bucknell University.
Overall, Katsis (three goals), Cico (three assists), Banks (two goals, one assist) and Kurtz (two goals, one assist ) all had a game-high three points for the Blue Jays. In total, 12 different players notched at least one point for Hopkins.
Katsis’ hat trick was the seventh of his career and first since October 1, 2016. For Cico, it marked his 14th game with three or more assists in his career.
Four Blue Jays freshmen tallied at least one point in their career debut — Murphy, Ivanov, Goodell and Tim Peterson.
Senior co-captain John Wilson and junior Spencer Witte shared time in the cage. Wilson made three saves and did not surrender a goal in two quarters. Witte also made three saves and had one steal while allowing just one goal in two quarters.
In Hopkins’ concluding game of the day against Gannon, the Blue Jays went the distance to hold off the Golden Knights in a tightly contested clash.
Gannon struck first getting a man-up goal from Nick Williams at the 2:58-mark in the first quarter. Hopkins answered with back-to-back goals from junior Ryan Masi and Kurtz just 19 seconds apart to take a 2-1 lead. Gannon’s Lucas Petzoid tied the match, however, with 1:08 to play in the quarter.
Petzoid’s goal ignited a three-goal Golden Knights’ run that saw them go up 4-2 with 7:11 to go in the second. Masi ended the run with his second of the game at 5:47 andKatsis followed with a man-up goal at 3:19 to tie the game at 4-4. Gannon quickly answered, retaking the lead just 14 seconds later. Cico scored to tie the game with 40 seconds on the clock after a steal by White.
Kurtz opened the third-quarter scoring on a counterattack to give Hopkins a 6-5 lead. But Gannon answered right back to even the score with 6:16 on the clock. Cico and Masi then scored back-to-back goals in a 61-second span to push Hopkins to an 8-6 lead. Gannon wasn’t going away however and sandwiched a pair of goals around a strike by Banks. Leading 9-8 with 1:27 to play in the third, Katsis and Banks scored back-to-back to stake the Blue Jays to a three-goal lead. The Golden Knights got one back before the end of the quarter as Tony Squeglia scored with 16 seconds on the clock.
Gannon picked up where it left off, scoring at 6:48 and 4:42 to pull even at 11-all. Hopkins retook the lead with 3:12 to play in the game when White drew a five-meter on Gannon’s Gilberto Millan. Cico cashed in on the penalty shot to make it 12-11. The Blue Jays’ defense made the one-goal lead stand as they took the win.
Johns Hopkins improves to 12-0 all-time against Gannon as the game marked the first meeting between the two programs since 2013.
Masi finished with his first career hat trick while also grabbing a pair of steals. Cico finished with his first hat trick of the season and 16th of his career.
Kurtz totaled a game-high four points (two goals, two assists) and Banks added three (two goals, one assist) points and two steals.
Wilson made 12 saves and dished an assist in the win.
Release courtesy Johns Hopkins University Athletics Communications
