ANNAPOLIS, Md. — After 636 days, the Division III No. 6-ranked Johns Hopkins University water polo team returned to action at the annual Navy Open hosted by the United States Naval Academy. Hopkins split its matches, falling to No. 9 the University of California-Davis, 16-2, prior to topping Salem University, 12-10, in the afternoon.
Versus UC-Davis, the Aggies jumped out to a seven-goal lead in a run that spanned the opening 12 minutes of the game. The Blue Jays got on the board with 2:53 to play in the second quarter on a goal from senior Emerson Sullivan.
UC-Davis answered with six straight goals to push its lead to 13-1 with 7:25 remaining. Once again, it was Sullivan that ended the run, scoring his second of the afternoon. The Aggies would tack on three more in the final four and a half minutes to take the 16-2 win.
Hopkins rebounded with a hard-fought two-goal win over Salem in the nightcap.
Salem struck first, but a goals from sophomore Seth Berke and Sullivan less than two minutes apart put JHU up 2-1. The Tigers converted a five-meter shot with just six seconds remaining in the opening quarter to knot the score at two.
The teams traded goals to open the second and it was three-all when a strike from freshman Ian Raley sparked a five-goal Blue Jays’ run. That run spanned nearly five and a half minutes and bridged halftime. Sullivan and senior Jake Pearson fueled the run with two goals each.
Petar Leontijevic ended the Hopkins’ run with a goal at the 5:28-mark in the third quarter to make it an 8-4 game. That goal ignited a Salem run that used up more than 12 minutes and saw the Tigers pull within two at 12-10 with 1:10 to play. That would be as close as they would get, however, as the Blue Jays grabbed their first win of the season.
The games marked the first for Hopkins since December 8, 2019 as the Blue Jays fall to 0-2 all-time versus UC-Davis and 13-5 against fellow Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) institution Salem.
Sullivan finished with seven goals and two assists in the two games, including his third career game with at least five goals. Jake Pearson matched his career high with four points (two goals, two assists) in the win over Salem. He also added four steals, four ejections drawn and a block in the two games.
Berke and Raley each scored their first career goals, while sophomores Alastair Powers and Liam Housenbold each tallied their first career assists.
Freshman Kyle Pearson made six saves in the first half versus UC-Davis and added six stops in the second half of the win over Salem. Freshman Connor Mechelke turned in five saves against UC-Davis and versus Salem.
Information courtesy Johns Hopkins University Athletics Communications
