Gannon University Survives Salem University, 7-6, at Winter 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-West Region Championship

Gannon University-vs.-Salem University Scoresheet (MAWPC-West Championship – Game #2)

ERIE, Pa. — Gannon University goalie Jacob Hollo (So, Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) earned Player of the Game recognition as he made four of his game-high 17 saves in the fourth quarter to stave off a comeback bid by Salem University as the Golden Knights survived the Tigers, 7-6, in Game 2 of the Winter 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Championship.

Competing in both programs’ opening game at the MAWPC-West Championship hosted by Mercyhurst University at the David M. Hallman III Aquatics Center in Erie, the two-time (2017, 2019) MAWPC-West Champion Golden Knights held a 6-1 lead with 4:58 left in the third quarter and needed every save from Hollo down the stretch to keep Salem at bay.

Hollo – who returned to the MAWPC-West Championship after anchoring the Golden Knights to the title and claiming Rookie of the Tournament accolades in 2019 – needed to record four or more saves in each quarter with five in the first and four in the second, third and fourth frames to keep Salem from mauling Gannon. 

The game was significantly closer than the inaugural pair of meetings between the two longtime rivals as Gannon topped Salem at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va. by a 21-11 count in an exhibition game on January 23 prior to claiming a 15-7 MAWPC-West regular season victory on February 20 at the Hallman Aquatics Center.

The Golden Knights wasted little time in claiming a lead the team would never relinquish against Salem as Vladimir Mickic (So., Subotica, Serbia/Nikola Tesla) and Dylan Schmitzerle (Fr., Plymouth, Mich./Huron) deposited man-up (5:50) and even-strength (3:45) scores, respectively, to hand Gannon a 2-0 lead after one quarter of action.

Ethan Hamp (Sr., Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) enlarged the margin to 3-0 by converting a six-on-five chance with 5:32 remaining in the second quarter, but Chad Rowley (So., Port of Span, Trinidad and Tobago/Fatima College) rifled in a response to break the ice for Salem and pull the Tigers within 3-1 at the 3:08 mark.

Anthony Squeglia (Sr., Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) closed out the first half scoring by lining in another Gannon goal with 1:07 on the clock as the Golden Knights carried a 4-1 lead into halftime.

The game appeared destined to be a run-away as Mickic (7:27, natural) and Robert Bolmanski (Jr., Erie, Pa./McDowell) (4:58, man-up) went back-to-back in the opening moments of the second quarter to stake Gannon to a 6-1 lead.

However, the goals awoke the sleeping Tigers as Manuel Soto Estela (So., Puerto Rico/St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) and Ivan Zivojinovic (Fr., Belgrade, Serbia) put away even-strength chances at 4:45 and 2:33, respectively, to trim Salem’s deficit to 6-3.

Squeglia delivered a response at 2:09 to close out the third quarter scoring and return a four-goal lead to Gannon at 7-3 heading into the final eight minutes of action.

The score marked the Golden Knights’ final offensive success as the momentum shifted dramatically in favor of Salem.

Estela began the Salem comeback bid with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter by beating Hollo to make it a 7-4 game.  Petar Leontijevic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/Seventh Gimnasium in Belgrade) and Zivojinovic turned what appeared in the second quarter destined into a lopsided victory into a nailbiter as the duo drove home shots at 3:48 and 1:56, respectively, to put Salem on the doorstep at 7-6.

However, the Gannon defense stiffened down the stretch and began to grind down the clock to leash the Tigers’ offense as Hollo and the Golden Knights held on for a one-goal win.

For Gannon, Mickic and Squeglia both contributed pairs of tallies, while Hamp, Bolmanski and Schmitzerle accounted for single strikes. 

Across the pool, Estla and Zivojinovic each notched two goals with Leontijevic and Rowley both finding the back of the cage once.

Between the pipes, Julen Alonso (So., Madrid, Spain/IEW Beatriz Galindo) turned aside 11 shots – including four in the fourth quarter to allow Salem to stage is dramatic comeback.

Salem – which entered the game with an 0-3 record as the Tigers did not compete for much of the abbreviated season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lost a tiebreaker versus Washington & Jefferson College for the No. 5 seed – the near-miss could prevent the No. 6 seed Tigers from joining No. 4 seed Mercyhurst University (2016), No. 1 seed McKendree University (2018) and No. 2 seed Gannon (2017, 2019) from joining the ranks of MAWPC-West Champions.

Both Gannon – which entered the game with a 5-1 overall mark, 4-1 in MAWPC-West competition – and Salem have remaining opening round games in Bracket B against No. 3 seed Mount St. Mary’s University – a first-year program which has consistently punched above the weight of an inaugural program all season.  Salem dropped an 18-10 game on February 19 at the Mountaineers’ pool in Emmitsburg, Md., while the Golden Knights tripped up The Mount by a 22-10 count on February 6 in Emmitsburg after picking up a 26-5 victory on January 23.

A victory by Gannon over Mount St. Mary’s will return the defending champion Golden Knights to the MAWPC-West Championship title game – slated for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 28.  A loss opens the door for Salem to claim the Bracket B crown as a Golden Knights defeat by the Mountaineers and a Salem victory over Mount St. Mary’s by more than a goal will return the Tigers to the MAWPC-West title tilt for the first time since a 13-12 loss to McKendree University in the 2018 championship game.

Salem University’s Goncalo Silva (#16) looks for an opening as Gannon University’s John Vieira (#10) defends

Salem University’s Petar Leontijevic (#14) rises to shoot over Gannon University’s Dylan Schmitzerle (#3)

Gannon University’s Marty Kaverman (#2)