LEWISBURG, Pa. — Goalie Matt Taylor (Gr., Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto College) made 15 saves as No. 18-ranked George Washington University overcame No. 16 Fordham University, 9-5, in the semifinals of the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
The 2017 and 2018 MAWPC Champion, George Washington (22-8, 9-3 MAWPC-East) will clash with the host/No. 13 Bison of Bucknell at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 24, for the league championship and an automatic berth to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
Overall, it will mark the third time in four years the Bison and Colonials will meet for the MAWPC crown as Bucknell claimed a 11-5 win in 2016 at home prior to GW taking a 12-11 overtime victory last year at Fordham University. In between, George Washington knocked off Wagner College by an 8-5 count at the United States Naval Academy for the program’s inaugural championship in 2017.
Further, George Washington will aim to join Bucknell (1977-78-79-80), Brown University (1983-84-85), Navy (1986-87-88; 2006-07-08) and the University of Massachusetts (1993-94-95-96) as the only teams outside the state of California to win three or more consecutive varsity league championships in men’s water polo.
Facing the Rams (24-7, 9-3 MAWPC-East) for the third time in 2019 after picking up a 9-8 win in the Bronx on September 28 and suffering a 14-13 setback at home on November 9, the Colonials wasted no time in taking a lead which they never relinquished.
Gabriele Simonti (Jr., Florence, Italy/Giuseppe Peano) put GW on the board 40 seconds into the game by converting a man-up chance at the 7:20 mark to pull ahead 1-0. Dimitris Koukias (So., Athens, Greece/Athens College) made it one-all with 6:45 on the clock by putting away a six-on-five bid, but Andras Levai (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Secondary School) pushed the Colonials back into the lead by lining in a natural tally at 4:46.
Fordham retied the score at two-all at 3:01 as Jake Miller-Tolt (Sr., Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) dented the netting, but a man-up strike by Nick Schroeder (So., Orinda, Calif./Campolindo) at 2:21 placed the Colonials into the lead to stay at 3-2.
Andrew Mavis (Sr., Princeton, N.J./The Pennington School) added to the margin with 2:45 to go in the second quarter by racking up another man-up score to make it 4-2. Fordham halved its deficit prior to halftime as George Maltby (Sr., Newtown Square, Pa./Episcopal Academy) torqued in a power-play chance with 10 seconds left on the clock to move within 4-3.
However, Taylor made fives saves in the third quarter to stymie the Rams’ offense for the entire eight minutes, while Atakan Destici (Sr., Istanbul, Turkey/Istek Acibadem Anatolian) and Schroeder stuffed in even-strength scores at 7:20 and 2:39, respectively, to build the Colonials’ lead to 6-3.
Neither team was able to score again until the 4:25 mark of the fourth quarter as Henry Maas (So., San Anselmo, Calif./Marin Academy) connected on a shot to provide GW with a four-goal margin at 7-3.
Miller-Tolt responded for Fordham at 4:16 to inch back within three at 7-4, but back-to-back man-up markers from Mavis (3:46) and Destici (2:49) expanded the margin to 9-4 with time winding down on a potential Rams’ comeback.
Fordham managed to chip one goal off the terminal differential prior to the concluding horn as Yuki Saito (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) put away a shot with exactly two minutes to go in establishing the 9-5 final score.
For GW, Schroeder, Destici and Mavis all scored twice with Maas, Levai and Simonti notching single markers.
Fordham – which will play Navy at Noon on Sunday, November 24, in the Third Place game – received a pair by Miller-Tolt and single goals by Maltby, Saito and Koukias in support of an 11 save effort from goalie Bailey O’Mara (So., Darien, Conn./Darien).
The Rams – who previously posted Third (2016 at Bucknell) and Fourth (2017 at Navy, 2018 at home) Place marks in the three prior MAWPC Championships – are guaranteed to equal their best or worst finish in the history of the event against the Midshipmen. Fordham finished 1-1 versus the Midshipmen during the regular season as Navy notched a 15-12 win the Bronx on October 19 before the Rams avenged the loss with an 11-6 win on November 9 in Annapolis.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 18 George Washington University | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | 9 |
| No. 16 Fordham University | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | – | 5 |
| Fordham Goals: | Jake Miller-Tolt (2); George Maltby; Yuki Saito; Dimitris Koukias | |||||
| GW Goals: | Nick Schroeder (2); Atakan Destici (2); Andrew Mavis (2); Henry Maas; Andras Levai; Gabriele Simonti | |||||
| Saves: | Fordham – Bailey O’Mara (11) ; GW – Matt Taylor (15) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Fordham – 11 ; GW – 12 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Fordham – 2-for-12 ; GW – 5-for-11 | |||||
| Sprints: | Fordham – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; GW – 1-for-4 (1st) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Josh Kratz ; Scott Voltz | |||||
George Washington University’s Nick Schroeder (#6) checks on Fordham University’s Jake Miller-Tolt (#3)
George Washington University’s Atakan Destici (#2) reacts to Fordham University’s Quinn Wagner (#16)
Fordham University’s Oscar Nomura (#8) attempts to get a shot off prior to the arrival of George Washington University’s Jordan Blosser (#9)
George Washington University’s Atakan Destici (#2) field blocks a shot in front of goalie Matt Taylor (#1)
