BRONX, N.Y. — The Division III No. 8-ranked Johns Hopkins University water polo team rallied to beat Mount St. Mary’s University, 18-17, in the opening round of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship hosted by Fordham University.
Hopkins trailed 17-16 with 2:27 to play in the fourth after an Alexander Bellesis man-up goal. Fifty-eight seconds later, sophomore Ian Raley scored and tied the game for the seventh time. Just 17 seconds later, Raley scored again and Hopkins had its first lead since early in the third quarter. The Blue Jay defense made the goal stand up as they kept the Mount off the board for the final 2:27 of the game to escape with the win.
Hopkins jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the game’s opening 3:15. Zach Fisher cut the deficit to two with a five-meter goal, but graduate student Emerson Sullivan completed his first quarter hat trick to put the Blue Jays up 5-2 after one.
The Mount opened the second with back-to-back goals to pull within one just 55 seconds in. Junior Cameron Burns and senior Kami Eslami answered with goals for the Blue Jays to push the lead back to three. Mount St. Mary’s responded with a 3-1 spurt to end the quarter and JHU led 8-7 at the half. The teams traded goals throughout the third and it was still a one-goal game going into the fourth quarter.
Tommaso Baldineti scored to open the fourth quarter and tied the game at 12. Sullivan answered 33 seconds later with a six-on-five goal and the Blue Jays were back on top. The Mount then scored three straight to go up 15-13 with 4:41 to play. Sophomore Chris Lo ended the run with a man-up goal to pull Hopkins within one, but a pair of Bellesis goals staked Mount St. Mary’s to a 17-16 lead with 2:27 on the clock.
The victory – which avenges 16-12 and 21-12 defeats at the hands of the Mountaineers during the regular season – places JHU into a quarterfinal clash with No. 19 George Washington University at 5:40 p.m. later today. The Blue Jays lost to GW by scores of 23-8 and 16-11 during the regular season.
Mount St. Mary’s will next be in action at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 19, against the victor of an opening round contest pitting the United States Naval Academy and Mercyhurst University. The Mountaineers will then face Gannon at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 20, as the results of the games combined with a 5:00 p.m. matchup of Gannon and Mercyhurst on Saturday, November 19, will determine places No. 9-to-11 in the final MAWPC Championship standings.
Information courtesy Johns Hopkins University Athletics Communications
