Gannon University Comes Out Golden in 13-9 Defeat of Division III No. 5 Johns Hopkins University to Reach 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship Fifth Place Game

Division III No. 5 Johns Hopkins University-vs.-Gannon University Scoresheet (2021 Mid Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship – Game #6)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Vlad Mickic (Jr., Subotica, Serbia/Nikola Tesla) scored six times to earn Player of the Game laurels as Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Champion Gannon University outscored Division III No. 5-ranked Johns Hopkins in every quarter to claim a 13-9 victory and a berth in the 2021 MAWPC Championship Fifth Place game at the United States Naval Academy.

Gannon (14-9, 3-1 MAWPC-West) – which claimed the MAWPC-West Championship on November 7 at Mylan Park Aquatics Center in Morgantown, W.Va. courtesy a 15-13 versus McKendree University – will take on 2016, 2019 and 2020/Winter 2021 MAWPC Champion Bucknell University at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 21, in the Fifth Place game. 

The Golden Knights are guaranteed their highest finish at the MAWPC Championship as the last time the Golden Knights made the MAWPC Championship in 2019 at Bucknell University, the team fell to Fordham University (16-11 L) and Johns Hopkins (17-13 L) prior to topping then varsity program La Salle University (15-9 W) to claim Seventh Place. In 2017 at Navy, Gannon fell to George Washington University (10-7 L) and Johns Hopkins (12-11 L) before stopping MAWPC-West runner-up Mercyhurst University (13-12 W OT SD) in the Seventh Place game.

The game will mark the first meeting between the Keystone State programs since a 17-8 victory by Bucknell versus Gannon in Annapolis during the Navy Open on September 8, 2013.

Johns Hopkins (6-21, 2-10 MAWPC-East) – which is guaranteed to play beyond this weekend thanks to earning a spot in the USA Water Polo Divison III Collegiate Water Polo National Championship on December 4-5 at an institutional site in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) by topping the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on October 24 by an 11-10 score in sudden death overtime during the 2021 Division III Eastern Championship hosted by Connecticut College – will aim to take Seventh Place on Sunday, November 21.  The Blue Jays will face Mount St. Mary’s University for the third time in 2021 following a 15-14 loss and a 13-12 win during the MAWPC-East regular season. 

A 17-time league championship tournament qualifier after placing Second (2015), Fourth (2009), Sixth (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014), Seventh (2002, 2007), Eighth (2000, 2001) and Ninth (2013) at Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championships before placing Fourth (2016), Fifth (2018) and Sixth (2017, 2019) at the MAWPC Championship, JHU will seek to prevent the Mountaineers from claiming a Seventh Place finish in the second year program’s first trip to the MAWPC Championship.

Gannon trailed only once in plucking the Blue Jays’ Fifth Place game hopes as Christopher Lo (Fr., Newtown Square, Pa./Episcopal Academy) buried a shot 28 seconds into the game to stake Johns Hopkins to a 1-0 lead with 7:32 left in the first quarter.

Mickic knotted the game at one-all with 3:45 left on the clock prior to Drago Marjanovic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/North Allegheny (Pa)) slipping in a man-up chance at 2:47 to put the Golden Knights in front to stay at 2-1.

Mickic added to the lead 48 seconds into the second quarter by putting away a power-play bid at 7:12.  Ian Raley (Fr., Baltimore, Md./Gilman) delivered a response for JHU at 5:32 to move within 3-2, but Tony Squeglia (R-Sr., Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) lined in a five-meter penalty shot at 5:07 to return a two goal lead to Gannon at 4-2.

Cameron Burns (So., Irvine, Calif./Orange Lutheran) chipped JHU’s deficit back to a single-strike by whipping in a shot at 2:21, but Mickic completed a hat-trick prior to the halftime horn by hooking in a shot at 1:39 to set the scoreboard at 5-3 entering halftime.

Chris Freese (Jr., Bellevue, Wash./Interlake) put the Blue Jays on the doorstep of tying the game by stroking in a man-up opportunity with 6:40 left in the third quarter to move Johns Hopkins back to within one at 5-4.

However, Mickic (6:24) and Squeglia (5:31, man-up) provided the MAWPC-West Champions with some breathing room by nailing back-to-back tallies to enlarge the gap to 7-4.  Jayden Kunwar (Sr., Woodside, Calif./Menlo) cut JHU’s deficit back to a pair by arching in a shot at 4:18, but Robert Bolmanski (Sr., Fairview, Pa./McDowell) converted on man-up (3:07) and even-strength (2:31) bids to provide Gannon a 9-5 lead.

Kunwar chopped the margin back to three at 9-6 with 1:06 left in the frame as the teams traded goals over the remainder of the third quarter with Ethan Hamp (R-Sr., Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) (46 seconds) and Burns (20 seconds) finding the twine to flip the scoreboard to 10-7 in favor of Gannon through 24 minutes of action.

The back-and-forth scoring trend carried over into the fourth quarter as Mickic (7:41) and Kunwar (6:51) exchanged scoring blows to keep it a three-goal game at 11-8.

Mickic completed his double hat-trick at 4:32 by flipping in a man-up score prior to Raley rifling in a response with a man-up marker at 1:27 to keep the Blue Jays within striking distance at 12-9 with the clocking winding down.

John Vieira (Sr., Erie, Pa./Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy (McDowell)) put any doubts about the contests eventual outcome to rest 22 seconds later by torquing in a shot at 1:05 to establish the 13-9 final score.

For Gannon, Mickic (six), Squeglia (two) and Bolmanski (two) combined for 10 goals to outscore JHU, while Vieira, Marjanovic and Hamp put away insurance goals. Jacob Hollo (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and Alvaro Marco (Fr., Madrid, Spain/IES Ortegay Gasset) combined for 12 saves.

Kunwar led Hopkins with a hat-trick, while Raley and Burns both racked up pairs.  Freese and Lo contributed single goals in support of a seven save effort by netminder Kyle Pearson (Fr., Key Biscayne, Fla./Laurel Springs School (Calif.)).