BRONX, N.Y. — Player of the Game Andrew Mavis (Jr., Princeton, N.J./The Pennington School) scored six times and Andras Levai (So., Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Secondary School) added five more as defending Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion George Washington University won a nail-biter against Wagner College, 16-14, in the semifinals of the 2018 MAWPC Championship at Fordham University’s Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center.
The win advances the 2017 MAWPC Champion Colonials (21-6, 9-3 MAWPC-East) into a 1:30 p.m. showdown on Sunday, November 18, against 2016 MAWPC Champion Bucknell University in a clash of the top two teams from the MAWPC-East regular season. Bucknell, which claimed the regular season crown with an 11-1 MAWPC-East record, advanced into the title game via a 12-11 defeat of the host Fordham Rams.
The title game will mark the second time Bucknell and George Washington will battle for the MAWPC title as the Bison downed the Colonials by an 11-5 final score in Lewisburg, Pa., for the 2016 crown. Last year, George Washington handled Wagner by an 8-5 count to claim the 2017 crown.
GW, which previously finished Third (2007), Seventh (2013), Eighth (2003, 2014) and Ninth (2015) at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)/Eastern Championship before posting Second (2016) and First (2017) Place marks in the NWPC, fell behind less than 40 seconds into the game as Wagner’s Jasmin Kolasinac (So, Belgrade, Serbia/King’s College) converted a man-up chance with 7:25 remaining in the opening frame.
The Colonials evened the score as Mavis (6:26) put away a shot at 6:26, but Jack Leighton (So., Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) responded for the Seahawks at 5:44 to return the lead to Wagner at 2-1. Finn Lillis (Fr., Gwynedd Valley, Pa./Germantown Academy) squared the teams at two-all prior to the conclusion of the first quarter as he arched in a shot with 11 seconds left to make it two-all after eight minutes of action.
George Washington pushed ahead with 6:20 left in the second quarter via a man-up marker by Lillis, but a successful five-meter penalty shot by Kolasinac at 5:49 made it three-all.
The Colonials pushed ahead to stay over the next minute as Atakan Destici (Jr., Istanbul, Turkey/Istek Acibadem Anatolian) and Levai dumped in shots at 5:37 and 4:39, respectively, to make it 5-3.
Kolasinac trimmed Wagner’s deficit to one at 5-4 with a five-meter penalty shot, but Jack Kerwin (Sr., Old Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) cashed in on a man-up bid at 3:38 and Destici lined in a five-meter penalty shot at 2:04 to expand the margin to 7-4.
Wagner erased the majority of GW’s lead prior to halftime as Lachlan Trabinger (Jr., Canberra, Australia/St. Edmunds College) notched a man-up score at 1:50 and Leighton tossed in a natural marker with 31 seconds remaining in the the second quarter to move the Seahawks within one at 7-6 entering the break.
Mavis opened the second half with a goal at 6:53 to return George Washington’s lead to a pair at 8-6, but Leighton answered at 6:01 to once again inch Wagner within one at 8-7. The lead continued to swing from two goals to one and back again as GW pulled ahead 9-7 and 10-8 with Wagner answering both times prior to the Colonials punching in a score by Levai with 2:44 on the clock to carry at 11-9 lead into the fourth quarter.
Leading 11-10, 12-10 and 12-11 following goals by Wagner to keep pace with GW, the Colonial acquired some breathing room as Mavis (5:30, natural) and Levai (5:10, man-up) deposited balls into the cage to make it 14-11 with the clock winding down.
Kolasinac trimmed Wagner’s deficit down to a pair of scores at 14-12 following a successful five-meter penalty shot. However, back-to-back even-strength strikes from Levai (4:01) and Mavis (3:18) proved to be what GW would need to exit the game with a victory as Kolasinac (1:46, 1:09) notched a pair in the final two minutes of regulation for the 16-14 final score.
For George Washington, Lillis and Destici both scored twice to join Mavis and Levai in recording multi-goal games. Kerwin tacked on a solo marker and goalie Austin Pyrch (Sr., Denton, Texas/Billy Ryan) turned away seven scoring tries.
Across the tank, Kolasinac scored six times to accompany four by Leighton and two by Vuk Bulajic (Fr., Belgrade, Serbia/King’s College). Teo Dadic (Sr., Dubrovnik, Croatia/Gimnazija Dubrovnk) and Trabinger both racked up single goals in support of an eight-save effort by Cameron Woldt (Sr., San Diego, Calif./Serra).
The defeat drops Wagner into the Third Place game as the team will aim to dispatch the host Rams of Fordham at Noon on Sunday, November 18, following earlier Fifth (2016) and Second (2017) Place finishes at the past NWPC Championships.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Wagner College | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | – | 14 |
| George Washington University | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | – | 16 |
| George Washington Goals: | Andrew Mavis (6); Andras Levai (5); Finn Lillis (2); Atakan Destici (2); Jack Kerwin | |||||
| Wagner Goals: | Jasmin Kolasinac (6); Jack Leighton (4); Vuk Bulajic (2); Teo Dadic; Lachlan Trabinger | |||||
| Saves: | GW – Austin Pyrch (7) ; Wagner – Cameron Woldt (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | GW – 15 ; Wagner – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | GW – 4-for-11 ; Wagner – 6-for-15 | |||||
| Sprints: | GW – 0-for-4 ; Wagner – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – George Washington (Head coach Barry King, 4:32 left in 2nd Q); YC – Wagner (Head coach Chris Radmonovich, 2:04 left in 2nd Q); YC – George Washington (Andrew Mavis, 5:30 left in 4th Q); YC – Wagner (Jasmin Kolasinac, 5:30 left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Val Vasilchikov, Michael Gordon | |||||
George Washington University’s Andras Levai (#8) attempts to drop a pass over the head of Wagner College’s Matthew Miller (#7)
Wagner College’s Teo Dadic (#10)
George Washington University’s Atakan Destici (#2) looks to pass as Wagner College’s Teo Dadic (#10) closes in
