LEWISBURG, Pa. — Goalie Matt Taylor (Gr., Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto College) made 15 saves to collect Player of the Game recognition as No. 18-ranked George Washington University overcame Division III No. 4 Johns Hopkins University, 17-9, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
The 2017 and 2018 MAWPC Champion Colonials (21-8, 9-3 MAWC-East) earn a date with No. 16 Fordham University in the championship semifinals at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 23, with a return trip to the league championship game at stake. GW split the regular season meetings against Fordham as the Colonials garnered a 9-8 victory on the road in the Bronx on September 28, but dropped a 14-13 decision at home in Washington, D.C., on November 9. The game will mark the second semifinal clash between the two long-standing programs as George Washington claimed a 16-15 win in overtime versus the Rams in 2017 at the United States Naval Academy on the way to the Colonials’ inaugural league championship crown.
Taking on fellow Baltimore/Washington metro area program Johns Hopkins (10-20, 3-9 MAWPC-East) in the opening round, George Washington wasted little time and overpowering the Blue Jays. Holding leads of 4-3 and 8-4 by the conclusion of the first and second quarters, respectively, GW saw its margin shrink to 10-7 by the conclusion of third quarter prior to overwhelming Johns Hopkins with a 7-2 outburst in the fourth quarter.
Johns Hopkins struck first in the game as John Murphy (Jr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) connected on a shot with 6:35 left in the first quarter to provide the Blue Jays with an early 1-0 lead. The margin proved to be shortlived, however, as Andra Levai (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Secondary School) lined in a five-meter penalty shot less than a minute later at the 5:51 mark to deadlock the teams at one-all.
From there, GW never trailed again as Andrew Mavis (Sr., Princeton, N.J./The Pennington School) swished an even-strength opportunity at 5:08 prior to Levai pumping in a man-up bid at 3:08 to construct a 3-1 lead for the Colonials.
Johns Hopkins tied the score at three-all as Jayden Kunwar (So., Woodside, Calif./Menlo) notched a five-meter penalty shot (2:49) prior to Kamran Eslami (Fr., Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley) curving in a shot with 2:08 on the clock to make it a three-all contest.
The tie marked the last time JHU was equal with GW as Jordan Blosser (Sr., Riverside, Calif./Santiago) shattered the equilibrium by slamming home a go-ahead score with 41 seconds left in the frame for a 4-3 Colonials’ lead through eight minutes of competition.
Atakan Destici (Sr., Istanbul, Turkey/Istek Acibadem Anatolian) and Gabriele Simonti (Jr., Florence, Italy/Giuseppe Peano) widened the lead to 6-3 as the duo deposited man-up strikes at 6:26 and 4:23, respectively.
Emerson Sullivan (So., San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) cut into Hopkins’ deficit by denting the twine with a natural score at 3:37, but the Colonials closed out the second quarter and first half with a man-up marker from Henry Maas (So., San Anselmo, Calif./Marin Academy) at 1:49 prior to DJ Davis (So., Alamo, Calif./San Ramon Valley) spinning in an even-strength blow with 55 seconds on the clock for an 8-4 lead at intermission.
Kunwar attempted to reinvigorate the Hopkins’ offense in the opening moments of the third quarter as the sophomore stuffed home a six-on-five chance with 7:37 to go in the frame in moving the Blue Jays within three at 8-5.
GW began putting the contest out of reach as Mavis (7:25) and Davis (4:51) recorded back-to-back even-strength goals to double-up the Blue Jays at 10-5.
Johns Hopkins chipped way at its deficit over the remainder of the third quarter as Kunwar (2:34, even-strength) and Jacob Whitaker (So., Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) (24 seconds, man-up) delivered scores to bookend a missed five-meter penalty shot by the Colonials to shrink the gap to 10-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
However, George Washington blew the game open in the dawning moments of the fourth quarter as Maas (7:12) and Levai (6:38) pumped in back-to-back shots to make it 12-7 less than 90 seconds in. Sullivan (6:12) and Kunwar (3:52) responded for Johns Hopkins to close within 12-9, but Nick Schroeder (So., Orinda, Calif./Campolindo) (3:32, man-up), Maas (3:06, even-strength), Davis (2:27, even-strength), Blosser (1:19, even-strength) and Heath Faulkner (Sr., Cameron Park, Calif./Ponderosa) (45 seconds, even-strength) concluded the game with a 5-0 run in establishing the 17-9 final score.
For GW, Davis, Maas, Davis and Levai all scored three times to post hat-tricks, while Blosser and Mavis tacked on pairs. Destici, Schroeder, Faulkner and Simonti each contributed single goals.
Overall, GW notches its fourth consecutive MAWPC Championship semifinal berth as the team fell to Bucknell University in the 2016 title tilt (11-5 L) at Kinney Natatorium prior to upending Wagner College (8-5 W) for the 2017 crown at the United States Naval Academy and Bucknell (12-11 OT W) last year at Fordham for the 2018 championship.
Hopkins – which will face MAWPC-West Region Champion Gannon University at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 23, for a spot in the Fifth Place game on Sunday, November 24 – received four goals from Kunwar and a pair by Sullivan. Murphy, Whitaker and Eslami all notched single scores in support of a six save effort by goalie Max Fleming (Jr., Orinda, Calif./Miramonte).
The game marked the fourth meeting of the year between the Colonials and Blue Jays – with George Washington claiming victories in each. Previously, GW picked up 16-7, 13-7 and 20-12 wins to sweep the season series against Johns Hopkins.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Division III No. 4 Johns Hopkins University | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | – | 9 |
| No. 18 George Washington University | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | – | 17 |
| GW Goals: | DJ Davis (3); Henry Maas (3); Andras Levai (3); Jordan Blosser (2); Andrew Mavis (2); Atakan Destici; Nick Schroeder; Heath Faulkner; Gabriele Simonti | |||||
| JHU Goals: | Jayden Kunwar (4); Emerson Sullivan (2); John Murphy; Jacob Whitaker; Kamran Eslami | |||||
| Saves: | GW – Matt Taylor (15) ; JHU – Max Fleming (6) | |||||
| Exclusions: | GW – 8 ; JHU – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | GW – 6-for-11 ; JHU – 3-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | GW – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; JHU – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | JHU – YC (Head coach Max Schlegel, 37 seconds left in 2nd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Josh Kratz ; Scott Voltz | |||||
George Washington University’s Nick Schroeder (#6) checks Johns Hopkins University’s Stephen Schmidt (#10)
Johns Hopkins University’s Chris Freese (#14) attempts to prevent George Washington University’s Nick Schroeder (#6) from dropping off a pass
Johns Hopkins University’s Olin Shipstead (#8) prepares to pass as George Washington University’s Nick Schroeder (#6) pursues
George Washington University’s Jordan Blosser (#9) strains to shoot as Johns Hopkins University’s Jayden Kunwar (#15) defends
