MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Division III No. 8-ranked Johns Hopkins University water polo team picked up its first win of the season as the Blue Jays beat the Mercyhurst University Lakers, 19-8. Hopkins also dropped a 21-16 decision to host Salem University to open the day at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
Hopkins opened the day against host Salem and lost in a back-and-forth contest versus the Tigers.
Freshman Owen Bartlett struck first just 41 seconds into the game, but a Marko Jovanovic goal 16 seconds later sparked a four-goal run. Freshman Ethan Babel halted the run at 3:19 to make it 4-2, but the Tigers responded with a 5-2 spurt to push out to a 9-4 lead with 6:08 to play in the second quarter.
Babel posted his third goal of the game via a five-meter shot at 5:38. Senior Liam Housenbold and sophomore Dado Soares followed with a pair of goals and just like that it was a 9-7 game at the 2:57 mark. However, Salem came right back with a 3-1 burst to go up 12-8 at the half.
The teams then traded goals to open the third quarter and the Tigers led 14-10 midway through. Bartlett then scored back-to-back goals to pull the Blue Jays back within two with 14 ticks on the clock.
Jovanovic pushed the lead back to three at the break with a last-second goal. Bartlett opened the fourth quarter with his seventh of the game to make it 15-13. Triston McKay answered with back-to-back goals to spark five-goal run as Salem went up 20-13 with 3:12 to play.
Senior Paul Gensbigler stopped the run with a pair of goals, followed by a strike from sophomore Jason Mihalopoulos to pull the Jays within four with 37 seconds to go. Matthew Romero tacked on a late goal for the Tigers to make it 21-16.
Hopkins bounced back by managing Mercyhurst.
Sophomore Daniel Palfi and Babel opened the game’s scoring with goals just 29 seconds apart to put JHU up early. Owen Hardner answered for the Lakers, but an Alec Baker goal at 1:46 ignited a four-tally run that staked the Blue Jays to a 6-1 lead.
Mercyhurst scored three straight to pull back within a pair at the 4:14 mark of the second quarter. Sophomore Gavin Brooke scored to spark a three-goal run that gave Hopkins a 9-4 lead at the half. Ben Gavran and Hardner sandwiched a pair of goals around a strike from freshman Max Blecher to build the lead to 10-6 2:36 into the third quarter. Mihalopoulos scored 19 seconds later to fuel a four-goal run as JHU pushed out to a 14-6 margin.
Asher Jones stopped the run with a goal at 2:52, but a Chris Lo goal at 1:06 ignited a 5-1 game-ending run for the Blue Jays.
Against Salem, Bartlett led Hopkins with seven goals on eight shots. Babel added a four-goal, five-point performance and Soares chipped in three points (one goal, two assists). Mihalopoulos (one goal, one assist) and Gensbigler (two goals) also had multi-point games. Baker recorded a team-best five steals and graduate student Saahil Naik made seven saves.
Mihalopoulos netted a career-high five goals, six points and four steals to lead the way versus Mercyhurst. Blecher (one goal, three assists) and Brooke (two goals, two assists) finished with four points each. Sophomore Quint Steffey tied his career high with three assists and Baker added three points (two goals, one assist) and four steals. Junior Mark Poisler (two goals, one assist), Ian Raley (one goal, two assists) and Palfi (one goal, one assist) also had multi-point outings.
Freshman Chris Poisler made 10 saves to earn his first career win.
Information courtesy Johns Hopkins University Athletics Communications
