ERIE, Pa. — Daniel Domotor (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Karinthy Frigyes Secondary) scored five times, including a trio in a decisive 5-2 outburst by the Explorers in the third quarter, to net Player of the Game honors as La Salle University outscored Connecticut College 7-4 in the second half to rally for a 13-11 victory in the opening round of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Champion at the David M. Hallman IIII Aquatics Center.
Via the victory, La Salle (6-16, 4-3 MAWPC-West Regular Season) advances to a 6:00 p.m. semifinal showdown against top seed/host Gannon University with a spot in the MAWPC-West Region Championship game and a guaranteed trip to the MAWPC Championship at the United States Naval Academy on Friday-Sunday, November 17-19, on the line. The victor and runner-up from the MAWPC-West Championship advances to the MAWPC Championship at Navy with the Midshipmen, Bucknell University, Fordham University, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University and Wagner College.
Trailing 7-6 at halftime and down 8-6 with 7:38 to go in the third quarter following a marker by Arturo Freitas (So., Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay), the Explorers navigated their way back into the game.
Domotor returned La Salle’s deficit to one 50 seconds later by banging in a ball with 6:48 on the clock prior to Derek DeFusco (So., Henderson, Nev./Coronado) balancing the scoreboard at eight-all with a man-up tally at the 6:20 mark.
La Salle, which pulled even with the Camels (7-13, 4-3 MAWPC-West Regular Season) for the first time since a five-all tie with 5:23 remaining in the first half, then went ahead for the first time since a 2-0 lead with 6:16 on the first quarter clock. Luke Waechter (So., Penllyn, Pa./Wissahickon) performed the task for the Explorers as he swpet in a shot to stake his squad to a 9-8 lead and take a yellow card in the process.
Connecticut responded Stephan Cress (Sr., Rockford, Mich./Rockford) curled in a equalizer on a six-on-five chance with 2:20 on the clock to pull the squads event at nine-all.
Domotor would do in the Camels in the concluding 74 seconds of the third quarter, however, by ticking off back-to-back even-strength strikes with 1:14 and 48 seconds to in the frame to push La Salle back in front and cushion the margin to 11-9 entering the final eight minutes of action.
He continued his one-man navy attempt by bombing in his third consecutive goal at 6:18 prior to Jeff Brady (So., Fallston, Md./Calvert Hall College) slipping in a shot with 4:19 remaining to inflate the margin to 13-9.
Jake Pescatore (Sr., New Haven, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) and Cress delivered the game’s final blows by delivering man-up (2:31) and even-strength (1:46) markers for the Camels to shrink the gap back to 13-11 prior to the concluding buzzer.
For La Salle, the game was the story of a quick start, a faltering first half and a resurgent second half behind the play of Domotor.
In the first quarter, Domotor found paydirt for the Explorers 15 seconds into the game to put La Salle out in front 1-0. Brady followed at 6:16 to pad the margin to 2-0, but Dylan Pinckert (Sr., Long Beach, Calif./Loyola) unleashed his scoring wrath to whip in back-to-back scores with 6:02 and 5:32 remaining in the opening quarter to knot the score at two-all.
Cress delivered the lead to the Camels with his team’s third straight strike by burying a man-up chance (1:12), but Cole Strohson (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar) punched back for La Salle with 16 seconds on the clock to return the scoreboard to equilibrium at three-all.
The tie would not last until the final horn for the first quarter as DeFusco flushed La Salle’s fourth goal with one second left to place the Explorers back in front at 4-3.
Rahul Gill (So., Bethesda, Md./Landon School) turned the tide back in favor of Connecticut in the opening 2:10 of the second quarter by hammering home shots with 6:01 and 5:50 until halftime to stake the Camels to a 5-4 lead.
Patrick Dougherty (Sr., Lower Gwynedd, Pa./La Salle) evened the damage at five-all (5:23), but back-to-back scoring jabs by Cress (5:00) and Gill (4:22) provided Connecticut a then game-high two-goal, 7-5 lead. Karl Miller (Fr., Arlington, Va./Washington Lee) chipped La Salle’s deficit down to a single goal at 7-6 prior to halftime as he torqued in a tally with 1:18 left to place the Explorers within striking distance for their second half rally to victory.
For La Salle, Brady and DeFusco both scored twice to join Domotor in posting multi-goal games. Miller, Strohson, Waechter and Dougherty each put up single tallies in support of an 11-save effort by goalie Owain Llewellyn (So., Lancaster, U.K./Lancaster Royal Academy).
The win, which ensures La Salle will better its Seventh Place finish in a seven-team field at the 2016 MAWPC-West Region Championship at the Hallman Aquatics Center, avenges a 12-11 loss by the Explorers to Connecticut on October 22 in New London, Conn.
Cress led the way Connecticut with four goals, while Gill and Pinckert accounted for three and two markers, respectively. Freitas and Pescatore accounted for the other two scores.
Matthew Wagman (Sr., Atlanta, Ga./Willison Northampton) took the loss with seven saves in the first half prior to Tanner Michaelis (Fr., Ramona, Calif./Ramona) coming in to make four stops in the second half.
The loss drops Connecticut into the consolation side the championship bracket as the team will take on Washington & Jefferson College, which fell 17-2 to Gannon University in the game’s opening contest, at 3:00 p.m. with a spot in the Fifth Place game on the line.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| La Salle University | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | – | 13 |
| Connecticut College | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | – | 11 |
| Connecticut Goals: | Stephan Cress (4); Rahul Gill (3); Dylan Pinckert (2); Arturo Freitas; Jake Pescatore | |||||
| La Salle Goals: | Daniel Domotor (5); Jeff Brady (2); Derek DeFusco (2); Karl Miller; Cole Strohson; Luke Waechter; Patrick Dougherty | |||||
| Saves: | Connecticut – Matthew Wagman (7, 16 minutes), Tanner Michaelis (4, 16 minutes) ; La Salle – Owain Llewellyn (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Connecticut – 6 ; La Salle – 10 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Connecticut – 3-for-10 ; La Salle – 1-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Connecticut – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) ; La Salle – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) | |||||
| Cards: | YC – La Salle (Luke Waechter, 5:25 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Igor Mernenko, Hadi Farid | |||||
Photo 1: La Salle University’s Karl Miller; Photo 2: La Salle University’s Cole Strohson (#4) looks to get around Connecticut College’s Jake Pescatore (#13) ; Photo 3: Connecticut College’s Stephan Cress (#6)
