WASHINGTON, D.C. — Behind an energetic home crowd, the No. 20-ranked George Washington University men’s water polo put together its most complete effort of the season to down No. 15 Bucknell University, 20-9, and complete a Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference doubleheader sweep Saturday at Charles E. Smith Center Pool. Earlier in the day, the Colonials topped La Salle University, 23-9, in their home debut.
George Washington raced out to an early lead against Bucknell behind Andrew Mavis (seven goals) and Jack Kerwin (five goals) and never let up in blasting the Bison.
Mavis led GW in scoring in both victories, finishing the doubleheader with 11 goals. The junior from New Jersey completed an impressive weekend after netting seven goals in Friday’s win at Johns Hopkins University.
The high-scoring Colonials have now reached the 20-goal mark seven times this season. They were equally strong defensively Saturday with Matt Taylor and Austin Pyrch combining for 33 saves between the two games.
Against the Bison in a clash of the 2017 (GW) and 2016 (Bucknel) Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Champions, the Colonials set the tone right away with three straight goals to open the contest and carried the momentum to the final whistle.
The Buff and Blue led 6-3 after one quarter and expanded their advantage to 13-6 by halftime. Kerwin and Mavis paced the surge, recording five goals apiece in the opening 16 minutes.
The Colonials kept it up out of the break. Atakan Destici‘s goal with 5:08 left in the third quarter pushed the lead to 15-6. That was more than enough offense with a defense that allowed just three second-half goals, led by Pyrch, who set a career high with 16 stops.
With the seven goals, Mavis pushed his team-leading total to 52 for the season in 17 games, while Kerwin’s five goals set a career high.
Destici tallied four goals, three assists, three steals and four field blocks, and Andras Levai pitched in a goal and a season-high six assists. The other three goals came from first-years with DJ Davis scoring twice and Nick Schroeder finding the net once.
Facing La Salle earlier in the day, the Colonials put together a dominant effort, tallying a season-high goal total en route to their third win of the season over the Explorers.
Back-to-back goals from Mavis to start the game put GW in front, and the home team extended the lead to double digits by halftime. Zach Slaughter‘s score with 39 seconds remaining in the opening half made it 12-2. The Buff and Blue scored seven times in the final quarter to reach 23 goals for the first time since a 23-11 win over Connecticut College on September 18, 2011.
Eleven different Colonials contributed goals against La Salle, paced by four from Mavis. Kerwin and Destici netted three goals apiece, while Finn Lillis and Josh Yardley each posted two goals and two assists.
Taylor made the most of his first start in net this season, totaling 17 saves to equal his career high, plus three steals and an assist.
Information courtesy George Washington University Athletics Communications
