LEWISBURG, Pa. — The Division III No. 8-ranked Johns Hopkins University water polo team ended the season by downing Mount St. Mary’s University, 14-13, in overtime after falling to George Washington University, 16-8, on Day Two of the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
In the opener, Hopkins and GW traded goals over the opening four minutes and it was 2-2. The Revolutionaries then scored three in a row to grab a 5-2 lead at the end of one. Freshman Owen Bartlett halted the run with a goal just 32 seconds into the second quarter, but GW answered with a three-goal spurt to push out to an 8-3 lead with 2:28 to go in the quarter.
Back-to-back goals from freshman Ethan Babel trimmed the deficit to three. The Buff and Blue got one back to take a 9-5 lead into the half. George Washington came out strong in the second half and outscored Hopkins, 7-3, to take the win.
Hopkins bounced back later in the day against Mount St. Mary’s. The Mount struck first, scoring a six-on-five goal 94 seconds in. Freshman Alec Baker answered for the Blue Jays to knot the score early. Mount St. Mary’s answered with a 4-2 spurt to grab a 5-3 lead with 3:09 to play in the first. Hopkins answered with a pair of five-meter goals from sophomores Gavin Brooke and Jason Mihalopoulos to even the score after one.
MSM opened the second-quarter scoring with a penalty goal at 6:09 to go up 6-5. JHU responded with goals from sophomore Quint Steffey and Bartlett just 34 seconds apart to go up 7-6. The Mount answered at 2:37 with a five-meter goal to knot the score, but a Blecher goal just 18 seconds later gave the Blue Jays an 8-7 lead at the half.
Bartlett opened the third-quarter scoring to push the lead out to two goals, but the Mount answered with a pair and the game was tied again. Babel and Bartlett sandwiched goals around a score from the Mount and JHU led 11-10 after three. Bartlett then scored 90 seconds into the fourth to push the Blue Jays lead to two. The teams then traded scores over the final six minutes, including a MSM score with just two seconds remaining to force overtime. Brooke scored with six seconds remaining in the first overtime period to put Hopkins back on top, 14-13. The defense then made the goal stand up through the second overtime.
Babel and junior Ian Raley led Hopkins versus GW with two goals each. Bartlett led the Blue Jays with four goals against the Mount, while Brooke and Mihalopoulos each had a hat trick.
Release courtesy Johns Hopkins University Athletics Communications
