ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Andrija Sekulic (Fr. Belgrade, Serbia/Savremena Gimnazija) scored four times to collected Player of the Game recognition as George Washington University overcame Wagner College, 11-9, in the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship Third Place game at the United States Naval Academy’s Lejeune Hall.
The Colonials (12-14, 7-5 MAWPC-East) trailed only once in the game as Vuk Bulajic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/King’s College) sliced in a shot 27 seconds into the contest to stake the Seahawks (17-17, 6-6 MAWPC-East) to a 1-0 lead. Andras Levai (Gr., Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Secondary School) knotted the score at 5:54 with a man-up tally prior to Henry Maas (Sr., San Anselmo, Calif./Marin Academy) ticking off back-to-back strikes at 5:09 and 2:48 to push George Washington ahead 3-1. Sekulic capped off the run with 1:41 left on the clock by lining home a penalty shot to provide the Colonials a 4-1 margin after eight minutes of competition.
Wagner climbed back into the the game in the dawning moments of the second quarter as Mattia Bognolo (Fr., Canberra, Australia) (4:57) and Oliver Fodor (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istvan Gimnazium) (4:02) hit pay-dirt to close the gap to 4-3.
However, George Washington put away the three final scores of the first half as Sekulic notched man-up goals at 2:06 and 30 seconds to sandwich a natural marker by Leo Lueddemann (Fr., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) at 1:28 as the Colonials entered the break with a 7-3 scoreboard advantage.
The lead quickly evaporated in the first 4:30 of the third quarter as Bognolo (7:31, man-up), Bulajic (4:42) and Kyle Chambers (Fr., Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) flummoxed the GW defense with back-to-back-to-back markers to shrink Wagner’s deficit to 7-6.
Sekulic answered the call for George Washington by cashing in on a man-up opportunity at 3:13, the Seahawks came right back with a score by Angelo Zania (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M./Foster) at 2:49 to make it a one goal game at 8-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bulajic completed the comeback for Wagner 32 seconds into the fourth quarter by putting away a shot at 7:41 to square the squads at eight-all.
GW went ahead 9-8 at 7:01 off a marker by DJ Davis (Sr., Alamo, Calif./San Ramon Valley), but Fodor flushed an equalizer at 5:34 to retie the game at nine-all and raise the specter of overtime.
Bender Russo (Jr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) notched the game-winner for George Washington at 4:58 by swishing a power-play chance prior to Levai adding insurance at 2:18 for the 11-9 final score.
For GW, Sekulic (four), Levai (two) and Mass (two) all posted multi-score games with Russo, Davis and Lueddemann contributing solo strikes in support of a 14 save effort by netminder Luca Castorina (So., Catania, Sicily/Liceo Galileo Galilei).
Bulajic led the way for Wagner with a hat-trick (three goals), while Bognolo and Fodor both posted pairs. Chambers and Zania added solo scores, while goalie Ethan Zirh (Sr., Sydney, Australia/Castle Hill) swatted away nine scoring tries.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Wagner College |
1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | – | 9 |
| George Washington University | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 11 |
| GW Goals: | Andrija Sekulic (4); Andras Levai (2); Henry Maas (2); Bender Russo; DJ Davis; Leo Lueddemann; | |||||
| Wagner Goals: | Vuk Bulajic (3); Mattia Bognolo (2); Oliver Fodor (2); Kyle Chambers; Angelo Zania | |||||
| Saves: | GW – Luca Castorina (14) ; Wagner – Ethan Zirh (9) | |||||
| Exclusions: | GW – 8 ; Wagner – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | GW – 6-for-11 ; Wagner – 2-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | GW – 0-for-4; Wagner – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – GW (Head coach Barry King, 2:05 left in 3rd Q); YC – Wagner (Head coach Ciaran Wolohan, 4:52 left in 2nd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Mike Gordon; Connor Roberson | |||||
