ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Goalkeeper Kyle Pearson (Sr., Key Biscayne, Fla./Laurel Springs School (Calif.)) posted 15 saves to register Player of the Game recognition as Division III No 10-ranked Johns Hopkins University exploited a 4-3 scoring advantage in the second half to manage Mercyhurst University, 10-9, in the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship’s Seventh Place game.
Competing at the United States Naval Academy’s Lejeune Hall, the Blue Jays (12-23, 4-13 MAWPC) tack on a Seventh Place mark to a legacy that includes Second (2015), Fourth (2009), Sixth (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014), Seventh (2002, 2007), Eighth (2000, 2001) and Ninth (2013) Place finishes at Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championships before placing Fourth (2016), Fifth (2018), Sixth (2017, 2019, 2023), Seventh (2021) and Eighth (2022) at the MAWPC Championship.
Mercyhurst (7-26, 0-17 MAWPC) – which returned to the MAWPC this year following one year in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) – posts an Eighth Place finish in the eight-team field due to the loss in the program’s fifth conference championship tournament appearance. The 2012 CWPA Southern Division Championship runner-up, Mercyhurst made the CWPA Eastern Championship at Princeton University and finished in Fourth Place among the eight teams in the field. Following an 11th Place finish at the 2022 MAWPC Championship hosted by Fordham University, the Lakers went 0-3 at the 2023 WWPA Championship hosted by McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill., by dropping contests to Biola University (25-6 L), Gannon (22-17 L) and Fresno Pacific University (18-10 L).
The Lakers drew first blood in the game as Owen Hardner (Jr., Erie, Pa./McDowell) put Mercyhurst in front at 1-0 17 seconds into the game. Chris Lo (Sr., Newtown Square, Pa./Episcopal Academy) responded for JHU at 7:21, but Hardner hit for his second strike of the game’s first four and a half minutes by burying a shot with 3:36 on the clock to return the Erie squad to the lead at 2-1.
Johns Hopkins dominated the remainder of the first quarter as Quint Steffey (Jr., Capistrano Beach, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) and Andrew Lee (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola) swished power-play bids at 3:10 and 1:44, respectively, to sandwich a successful five-meter penalty shot by Patrick Rooney (Fr., San Diego, Calif./The Bishop’s School) with 2:29 to go in the frame to provide the Blue Jays a 4-2 lead through eight minutes of competition.
Phillip Long (Fr., Cupertino, Calif./Bellarmine College Prep) piled another strike onto the spread by cashing in a man-up chance with 6:34 to play in the second quarter to push JHU ahead 5-2.
Ben Gavran (So., Pittsburgh, Pa./McDowell) and JP Kirouac (Sr., Lawrenceville, Georgia/Collins High) trimmed Hopkins’ scoreboard advantage down to 5-4, however, by curling in shots at 5:35 and 4:27. Alec Baker (So., Redondo Beach, Calif./Chadwick School) expanded the spread back to a pair (6-4) with a man-up tally at 3:20, but Gavran (1:49) and Alessio Sampedro (Fr., Barcelona, Spain/Sagrat Cor) (58 seconds) countered for the Lakers to square the squads at six-all before halftime.
Mercyhurst’s momentum continued into the third quarter as Hardner connected on even-strength chances at 5:34 and 4:55 to give the Lakers back the lead for the first time since acquiring a 2-1 spread with 3:36 on the first quarter clock.
Hopkins, however, erased its scoreboard debt before the conclusion of the third quarter as Long (4:41) and Max Blecher (So. Princeton, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) (3:52) delivered the Blue Jays back-to-back tallies to even the damage at eight-all heading into the decisive fourth quarter.
The Lakers pushed in front one more time as Will Cheney (Fr., Rockford, Mich./Rockford) spun a ball into the twine to convert a man-up chance with 4:08 left in regulation.
Long was short in delivering a counterpoint to Cheney’s successful heave as he posted an equalizer 19 seconds later at 3:49 to raise the specter of overtime.
Jason Mihalopoulos (Jr., Las Vegas, Nevada/Bishop Gorman) guaranteed extra time would not be necessary as he wailed in the deciding factor by redeeming a man-up bid with 2:12 on the clock. Pearson did the rest for his squad by stifling Mercyhurst in the concluding minutes of the game to allow Hopkins to hang on for a 10-9 victory.
For the Blue Jays, Long netted a hat-trick with solo tallies from Lo, Blecher, Steffey, Baker, Rooney, Mihalopoulos and Lee accounting for the remainder of Hopkins’ offense.
Hardner (four) and Gavran (two) notched multi-goal games for Mercyhurst with Cheney, Kirouac and Sampedro slipping in solo markers. Goalkeeper Tony Golin (Sr., Dexter, Mich./Dexter) turned aside eight shots in suffering the defeat.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Mercyhurst University |
2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | 9 |
| Division III No. 10 Johns Hopkins University | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | 10 |
| Johns Hopkins Goals: | Phillip Long (3); Chris Lo; Max Blecher; Quint Steffey; Alec Baker; Patrick Rooney; Jason Mihalopouos; Andrew Lee | |||||
| Mercyhurst Goals: | Owen Hardner (4); Ben Gavran (2); WIll Cheney; JP Kirouac; Alessio Sampedro | |||||
| Saves: | Johns Hopkins – Kyle Pearson (15) ; Mercyhurst – Tony Golin (8) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Johns Hopkins – 7 ; Mercyhurst – 10 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Johns Hopkins – 6-for-10 ; Mercyhurst – 1-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | Johns Hopkins – 0-for-4 ; Mercyhurst – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Johns Hopkins (Head coach Max Schlegel, 58 seconds left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Alex Larin, Alex High | |||||
Johns Hopkins University’s Owen Bartlett (#3) & Mercyhurst University’s Nate Cheney (#10)
Johns Hopkins University’s Phillip Long (#14) & Mercyhurst University’s Aidan Parrish (#15)
Johns Hopkins University’s Jason Mihalopoulos (#10) & Mercyhurst University’s Nate Cheney (#10)
