BRONX, N.Y. — One contest remains for the Gannon University men’s water polo team after taking a 17-6 win versus crosstown-rival Mercyhurst University on the second day of the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship hosted by Fordham University.
The Golden Knights are now 9-16 and have won three of their last four contests. The team will face Mount St. Mary’s University on Sunday, November 20, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern at Fordham’s Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatics Center with Ninth Place in the 11-team championship on the line. Mercyhurst previously took an 18-8 loss to the Mountaineers as the Lakers conclude competition at the championship in 11th with an 0-3 mark following prior losses to the United States Naval Academy (21-9 L) and Mount St. Mary’s (18-8 L).
Mercyhurst grabbed a 1-0 lead just 29 seconds into the match but it was all Golden Knights after that. Head coach Shane Unger‘s team ran off the next five points, leading 4-1 after one quarter. When Marty Kaverman Jr. (Erie, Pa./McDowell) deposited a feed from Drago Marjanovic (Belgrade, Serbia/North Allegheny (Pa.)) into the back of the net with 4:53 remaining in the second quarter the Golden Knights held a 5-1 lead.
The two teams each scored three goals during the rest of the quarter as Gannon led 8-4 at the half.
The Golden Knights dominated the final 16 minutes, outscoring the Lakers 3-1 in the third quarter then exploding for six goals in the final eight minutes while Mercyhurst scored just once.
With the score at 10-5 midway through the third quarter Gannon scored six straight goals stretching into the fourth quarter for a 15-5 advantage. Vlad Mickic (Subotica, Serbia/Nikola Tesla) accounted for two of the goals and Marjanovic had a goal and two assists.
Gannon ended with a 35-32 advantage in shots, but the Golden Knights owned a 48.6 percent shooting percentage, while holding Mercyhurst to 18.8 percent. Gannon was three-of-10 on the power play and the Lakers connected on one-for-four extra-man efforts.
Nine different Golden Knights scored goals with Kaverman and Mickic ending with three apiece. Sophomore Grant Simeone (Westerville, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) scored his first two goals of the season, with Dylan Schmitzerle (Richmond, Va./Huron), Seth Johnson (Sugar Hill, Ga./Lanier) and Marjanovic also scoring twice. Marjanovic had seven assists, tying the high by a Golden Knight this year. He also had seven against Mercyhurst on October 21 in a 16-8 win to open the 2022 Division II Eastern Championship.
Jacob Hollo (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) earned the win for Gannon with 10 saves.
Release courtesy Gannon University Athletics Communications
