No. 16 Fordham University-vs.-Gannon University Scoresheet (MAWPC Championship Game 3)
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Jake Miller-Tolt (Sr., Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) scored four times to claim Player of the Game recognition and Dimitris Koukias (So., Athens, Greece/Athens College) tacked on five more as No. 16-ranked Fordham University outscored Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Champion Gannon University by a 12-8 count in the second half to collect a 16-11 win in the opening round of the 2019 MAWPC Championship hosted by Bucknell University.
Competing at Kinney Natatorium, the Rams (24-6, 9-3 MAWPC-East) held a narrow 4-3 lead at halftime prior to racking up 5-3 and 7-5 scoring advantages in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, against the Golden Knights (17-3, 6-0 MAWPC-West) to get by Gannon and advance into the tournament semifinals.
Fordham will return to the water at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 23, against the victor of a quarterfinal pitting No. 18 George Washington University and Division III No. 4 Johns Hopkins University. Gannon will clash with the fallen from the Colonials-Blue Jays game at 3:00 p.m. with a berth in the MAWPC Championship Fith Place game on the line.
Although in a tight contest throughout much of the first half, Fordham never trailed against Gannon.
The Rams – who are now guaranteed to have a shot at tying or improving upon their prior Third (2016) and Fourth (2017, 2018) Place finishes at the MAWPC Championship – jumped on the scoreboard with 5:27 left in the first quarter as Joseph Agabs (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Technical) put away a shot. Phillip Wang (Jr., San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Prep) added to the margin at 4:28 with a man-up marker, but the Golden Knights slashed back with a man-up strike by Robert Bolmanski (So., Erie, Pa./McDowell) (3:18) and an even-strength goal by Jack Donnelly (Sr., Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) (2:37) to balance the scoreboard at two-all.
Fordham regained the lead prior to the first quarter’s conclusion as Agabs buried a power-play bid with 50 seconds left to put the Rams ahead to stay at 3-2.
Neither team was able to deliver some additional offense until the 1:57 mark of the second quarter when Miller-Tolt torqued in an advantage chance to build Fordham’s lead to 4-2. Drago Marjanovic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/North Allegheny) erased the damage before the end of the first half by notching a natural strike 27 seconds later (1:30) to keep the Golden Knights within striking distance at 4-3 heading into halftime.
The Rams pulled away in the first two minutes of the third quarter as back-to-back-to-back goals from Koukias (7:27, 6:57, 6:12) made it 7-3. Thomas Squeglia (Sr., Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) answered with consecutive tallies at 4:26 and 3:58 to close back within a pair at 7-5.
Miller-Tolt closed out the third quarter by drilling in a five-meter penalty shot (2:35) and a natural goal (1:01) to bookend an even-strength marker by Squeglia (1:54) to establish a 9-6 score heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Wang (7:12) and Miller-Tolt (6:44) added to the margin withing the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter to make it an 11-6 game.
Marjanovic pulled Gannon back within four at 11-7 (6:02) before Wang (5:35) and Marjanovic (5:08) traded man-up conversions to keep the gap at four (12-8) with time beginning to wind down on a Golden Knights’ comeback bid.
Koukias (4:35, man-up) and David Gallion (So., Arlington, Va./Homeschool) (4:13, even-strength) traded goals for Fordham and Gannon to expand and shrink the lead from 13-8 back to 13-9. However, consecutive heaves by Koukias (3:53) and Jason Hiremath (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) (3:32) extinguished hopes of a rally by expanding the Rams’ lead to 15-9.
Down by six with under four minutes to play, Gannon managed scores by Riley Hinkley (Sr., Meshoppen, Pa./Princeton) and Donnelly with 3:21 and 19 seconds on the clock, respectively, to surround a man-up cash-in by Wang at 2:08 for the 16-11 final.
Fordham received multi-goal games from Koukias (five), Miller-Tolt (four), Wang (four) and Agabs (two) to accompany a single strikes by Hiremath. In cage, Bailey O’Mara (So., Darien, Conn.) collected six saves to take the win.
Across the tank, Squeglia (three), Marjanovic (three) and Donnelly (two) combined for eight of Gannon’s 11 goals. Hinkley, Bolmanski and Gallion accounted for the remainder with single markers in support of a 10 save effort by goalie Jacob Hollo (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny).
A victory in Gannon’s next game will guarantee the team improves upon its only prior MAWPC Championship appearance – a Seventh Place mark in 2017 as the team fell to George Washington (10-7 L) and Johns Hopkins (12-11 L) prior to stopping Mercyhurst University in sudden death overtime (13-12 W) in the Seventh Place game.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Gannon University | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | – | 11 |
| No. 16 Fordham University | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | – | 16 |
| Fordham Goals: | Dimitris Koukias (5); Jake Miller-Tolt (4); Phillip Wang (4); Joseph Agabs (2); Jason Hiremath |
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| Gannon Goals: | Tony Squeglia (3); Drago Marjanovic (3); Jack Donnelly (2); Riley Hinkley; Robert Bolmanski; David Gallion | |||||
| Saves: | Fordham – Bailey O’Mara (6) ; Gannon – Jacob Hollo (10) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Fordham – 2 ; Gannon – 12 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Fordham – 6-for-12 ; Gannon – 2-for-2 | |||||
| Sprints: | Fordham – 3-for-4 (1st, 3rd, 4th) ; Gannon – 1-for-4 (2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Gannon – YC (Head coach Shane Unger, 15 seconds left in 2nd Q), YC/RC (Head coach Shane Unger, 6:57 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Josh Kratz ; Igor Mernenko | |||||
Gannon University’s Anthony Squeglia (#9) looks to shoot as Fordham University’s Tristen Knoflick (#5) closes in
Fordham University’s Phillip Wang (#6) blocks the path of Gannon University’s Jack Donnelly (#3)
Fordham University’s Jake Miller-Tolt (#3) lofts a pass over Gannon University’s Riley Hinkley (#16)
Fordham University’s Jake Miller-Tolt (#3) guards Gannon University’s Drago Marjanovic (#18)
