ERIE, Pa. — The Gannon University men’s water polo team split a pair of contests on the first day of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Crossover hosted by Mercyhurst University at the Hallman Aquatics Center.
The day began with a 20-19 win over Division III No. 4-ranked Johns Hopkins University in a rematch of last year’s Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship second round match. That was followed by a 24-21 setback against Mount St. Mary’s University as the Golden Knights fell to 1-5 on the season.
In a rematch of last year’s second-round Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship contest, Alex Kotskar (Voula, Greece) scored the winning goal with 1:44 remaining in the match and the Blue Jays came up empty on three shots after that as Gannon clipped Johns Hopkins.
The game marks the first win of the season for the Golden Knights, who upset Johns Hopkins by a 13-9 score in last year’s MAWPC Championship tournament.
The back-and-forth affair featured 13 ties and seven lead changes, and neither team led by more than two goals.
Johns Hopkins broke an 18-18 tie with a goal with 4:36 remaining, but Gannon netted the final two goals. The Golden Knights knotted the game at 19-19 on Ben Fribourg’s (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) penalty shot with 3:05 to play. Gannon gained the lead for the first time since midway through the third quarter when Kotskar, a freshman from Greece, beat goalkeeper Kyle Pearson with 1:44 on the clock. After that Alvaro Marco (Madrid, Spain/IES Ortega y Gasset) saved one shot, another Blue Jays’ shot was off the mark, and Fribourg blocked a final shot to preserve the victory.
Kotskar led Gannon with five goals, with Drago Marjanovic (Belgrade, Serbia/North Allegheny (Pa.)) contributing four goals and four assists. Marjanovic returned after missing two contests in the season-opening Bruno Classic hosted by Brown University due to an injury. Fribourg also posted four goals.
Marco finished with 13 saves in cage.
A key for the Golden Knights was the performance on the power play. Gannon converted on six-of-10 man-up chances, while Johns Hopkins failed on seven attempts. Overall, the Blue Jays outshot the Golden Knights 44-to-35.
In the nightcap, Gannon dropped to 1-5 as the Golden Knights were unable to slow down Mount St. Mary’s Tomasso Baldineti, who scored 10 goals.
Fribourg and Kotskar each scored six times in the loss. Fribourg added an assist as his seven points (six goals, one assist) marked a career high for the sophomore.
Marjanovic contributed three goals and three assists, while Vlad Mickic (Subotica, Serbia/Nikola Tesla) also notched three goals.
Gannon held a 29-28 advantage in shots, but unlike in the first game when the team excelled on the power play, the Golden Knights were only one-of-nine compared to the Mountaineers’ five-for-10 performance on man-up bids.
The Mount broke a six-all tie with a goal at the end of the first quarter and never trailed after that.
Gannon trailed 15-11 at the half prior to Mount St. Mary’s scoring the first five goals of the third quarter to go ahead 20-11 midway through the frame.
Gannon mounted a comeback to close to within 21-18 with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter as Fribourg pnched in his third consecutive goal, but The Mount was able to hold off the Golden Knights.
Jacob Hollo took the loss in the game.
Information courtesy Gannon University Athletics Communications
