ERIE, Pa. — The Mount St. Mary’s University men’s water polo set new records for goals scored and combined goals in a 28-14 victory at Penn State Behrend. The Mountaineers improve their record to 5-3 this season.
Utilizing their full roster, the Mount received goals from 13 of its 15 participants. The 28 goals surpassed the team’s goals in a game record, also set against Behrend in September 2021. With the Lions adding their total, the 42 scores combined broke the school’s program record of 34 set in February 2021 versus McKendree University.
Tommaso Baldineti led the way with seven goals scored. Alexandros Bellesis recorded his second hat trick of the season, and freshman Wes Reising recorded his first. Among the 13 goal scorers, eight tallied more than one. Jaden McNeal-Villafana and Brody Haney supplied four assists apiece, and Kiahi Horan swiped four steals. Chrysostomos Valavanis finished with four ejection drawn.
The first half was not an indication of a lopsided final score. After Mount St. Mary’s jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Penn State Behrend rallied to knot the score at three-all. The Mount’s first of three penalty shots put them back in the lead and sparked a 3-0 record. The Lions countered to cut it back to 6-5 by quarter’s end. Quick strikes in the second quarter propelled the contest up to 10-6, but Behrend pieced together two comebacks to hang on at halftime – the Mountaineers leading 13-10.
It was a different story in the second half.
Charging out of the gates, the visiting Mount used conventional methods, breakaway attacks, and a penalty to score seven times in the third quarter. On the first possession in the final eight minutes, the Mountaineers tied the program record. Kacper Cieplik got the honor of breaking the mark by hitting the third penalty shot of the night. Both scores were part of a 6-0 run, finishing off the game 8-2 in the fourth quarter.
Release courtesy Mount St. Mary’s University Athletics Communications
