CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Josep Jodra Munoz (Jr., Barcelona, Spain/Closa/St. Francis College Brooklyn) scored a game high six goals, while Riyad Shehadeh (Sr., Nicosia, Cyprus/Pascal Greek School/St. Francis College Brooklyn), Karl Lovett (Gr., San Ramon, Calif./California/Wagner College) and Ben LeClair (So., Orlando, Fla./Oviedo) netted five, four and four markers, respectively, to lead the way as Long Island University topped Connecticut College, 25-5, in the final game on Day Two of the 2023 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Championship hosted by Harvard University.
Due to the win, Long Island (8-22, 1-9 NWPC) guarantees it can not finish lower than Sixth Place in the final seven-team championship standings, while Connecticut College (2-22, 0-1 NWPC) locks up Seventh Place by going 0-2 in a round-robin against LIU and Division III No. 5-ranked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (18-3 L).
A first-time participant at the NWPC Championship, LIU will attempt to garner Fifth Place in the final seven-team championship standings on Sunday, November 19, at 9:00 a.m. as the Sharks do battle with the Engineers of MIT. The winner takes Fifth Place, while the loser earns Sixth Place.
The Sharks did not lead from start to finish in the game as Jeffrey Harrington (Fr., San Diego, Calif./University City) put the Camels ahead 1-0 by denting twine with 5:46 left in the opening quarter. However, LIU dominated the remainder of the first quarter by outscoring Connecticut 5-1 over the remaining five and a half minutes. In the second quarter, the Sharks chomped down to build a lead which Connecticut was unable to overcome as Long Island outscored the Camels 6-0 in the second frame for an 11-2 lead entering halftime.
Long Island continued to pull away over the remainder of the contest by outscoring Connecticut 6-1 and 8-2 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, to rack-up a 20-goal win.
For Connecticut, Cormac Stevens (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) scored twice with Grant Archer (Sr., Miami, Fla./Columbus), Harrington and Graham Stuart (So., Carlisle, Mass./Concord Carlisle) tacking on solo markers. Sebastian Parilov (So., Brooklyn, N.Y./Millenium Brooklyn) and Isaac Merwin (So., Houston, Texas/Lamar) combined for eight saves.
Across the tank, Jodra Munoz (six), Shehadeh (five), Lovett (four), LeClair (four), Logan Morgan (So., Camarillo, Calif./Thousand Oaks) (three) and Liam Schlosser (So., San Rafael, Calif./San Rafael) (two) combined for 24 goals with goalkeeper Ethan Zirh (Gr., Sydney, Australia/Castle Hill/Wagner College) tacking on a solo marker and 13 saves.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Long Island University |
5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | – | 25 |
| Connecticut College | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | – | 5 |
| Connecticut Goals: | Cormac Stevens (2); Grant Archer; Jeffrey Harrington; Graham Stuart | |||||
| LIU Goals: | Josep Jodra Munoz (6); Riyad Shehadeh (5); Karl Lovett (4); Ben LeClair (4); Logan Morgan (3); Liam Schlosser (2); Ethan Zirh | |||||
| Saves: | Connecticut – Sebastian Parilov (7, 24 minutes), Isaac Merwin (1, 8 minutes) ; LIU – Ethan Zirh (13) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Connecticut – 12 ; LIU – 2 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Connecticut – 0-for-2 ; LIU – 7-for-12 | |||||
| Sprints: | Connecticut – 1-for-4 (2nd) ; LIU – 3-for-4 (1st, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Connecticut – MAM (Sebastian Parilov, 4:37 left in 2nd Q), MD (Sebastian Parilov, 4:12 left in 4th Q); LIU – None | |||||
| Officials: | Jim Lewis, Alex Larin | |||||
Connecticut Colleges Grant Archer (#3)
Long Island University’s Karl Lovett (#9) lines up a shot as Connecticut College’s Jeffrey Harrington (#6) defends
Long Island University’s Josep Jodra Munoz (#8) attempts to get off a shot as Connecticut College’s Grant Archer (#3) comes over the top from behind
