Wagner College-vs.-La Salle University Scoresheet (2019 MAWPC Championhip Game 5)
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Vuk Bulajic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/King’s College) scored five times to net Player of the Game accolades as Wagner College exploited a 6-1 scoring advantage in the first quarter to hold off La Salle University down the stretch for a 15-13 victory at the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship hosted by Bucknell University.
Due to the win, Wagner (7-23, 4-8 MAWPC-East) earns a spot in the championship’s Fifth Place game at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 24, against the victor of a game pitting Division III No. 4-ranked Johns Hopkins University and MAWPC-West Region Champion. La Salle (6-22, 1-11 MAWPC-East) returns to the water at 9:00 a.m. in the Seventh Place clash versus the fallen from the Blue Jays-Golden Knights showdown.
The Seahawks led in the game from nearly opening whistle to closing horn as Bulajic found the back of the cage with even-strength tallies at 6:55 and 2:46 prior to bookend a combined three strikes from Matthew Miller (Sr., San Ramon, Calif./California) (6:31, man-up; 5:39, even-strength) and Oliver Fodor (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Szent Istvan Gimnazium) (3:31, man-up) to provide Wagner a 5-0 lead less than 5:30 into the game.
Tyler Williams (So, Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) broke up the Seahawks’ onslaught by torquing in a natural tally at 1:36, but Miller completed a first quarter hat-trick by bounding in a man-up opportunity with 22 seconds on the clock. to make it 6-1 through eight minutes of competition.
Lachlan Trabinger (Sr., Canberra, Australia/St. Edmunds College) padded the margin to 7-1 45 seconds into the second quarter (7:45) to apparently begin putting the contest out of reach.
However, the Explorers refused to rollover as Cole Strohson (Jr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) put away man-up (6:36) and penalty shot (4:56) goals to close back within four at 7-3. Wagner answered as Bulajic completed a hat-trick with 3:41 left on the clock and Shaked Yacoby (Fr., Hod HaSharon, Israel/Mosenson Hod HaSharon) stroked in a tally with 1:00 to go for a 9-3 lead.
The teams traded goals in the closing minute of the first half as Daniel Domotor (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Karinthy Frigyes Secondary) dumped in a man-up chance for La Salle at the 29 seconds mark prior to Fodor responding with 16 ticks on the clock for a 10-4 Wagner lead at the break.
Domotor struck again for the Explorers 18 seconds (7:42) into the third quarter to move La Salle within five at 10-5. Bulajic countered with a strike of his own at 5:46 to make it 11-6, but the momentum in the contest shifted drastically towards the squad from Philadelphia over the remainder of the quarter.
Callin Chimilar (Fr., Regina, Sask./Martin Collegiate) and Strohson went back-to-back for La Salle at 4:35 and 4:05, respectively, to move the needle to 11-7 prior to Yacoby booming in a marker at 3:45 to expand the Seahawks’ margin back to five at 12-7.
However, La Salle closed out the third quarter with a fury as Luke Waechter (Sr., Penllyn, Pa./Boston University) and Jeff Brady (Sr., Fallston, Md./Calvert Hall College) notched consecutive natural tallies at 2:54 and 2:09, respectively, prior to Strohson firing in a five-meter penalty shot with 25 seconds remaining to make the score 12-10 after 24 minutes of action.
Waechter had La Salle knocking on the door of completing the comeback by denting the twine with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter to shrink the gap to 12-11, but back-to-back-to-back goals from Karl Lovett (Fr., San Ramon, Calif./California) (6:55, even-strength), Bulajic (6:00, man-up) and Yacoby (2:50, even-strength) spelled doom for the Explorers’ hopes for a victory in regulation or overtime by pushing Wagner’s lead to 15-11.
Waechter (55 seconds, even-strength) and DeFusco (12 seconds, man-up) shrank the deficit back to 15-13 prior to final horn as Wagner escaped with a two-goal win.
For the Seahawks, Bulajic (five), Yacoby (three), Miller (three) and Fodor (two) all netted multi-goal games. Trabinger and Lovett deposited solo scores and goalie Ethan Zirh (Fr., Sydney, Australia/Castle Hill) stopped six shots.
La Salle received four goals from Strohson, a trio by Waechter and a pair off the hand of Domotor. Chimilar, Brady, DeFusco and Williams each put away single tallies in support of an 11-save effort by netminder Adriano Zunino (Fr., Lima, Peru/Broward College).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| La Salle University | 1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | – | 13 |
| Wagner College | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | – | 15 |
| Wagner Goals: | Vuk Bulajic (5); Shaked Yacoby (3); Matthew Miller (3); Oliver Fodor (2); Lachlan Trabinger; Kyle Lovett | |||||
| La Salle Goals: | Cole Strohson (4); Luke Waechter (3); Daniel Domotor (2); Callin Chimilar; Jeff Brady; Joey DeFusco; Tyler Williams | |||||
| Saves: | Wagner – Ethan Zirh (6) ; La Salle – Adriano Zunino (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Wagner – 13 ; La Salle – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Wagner – 4-for-6 ; La Salle – 5-for-13 | |||||
| Sprints: | Wagner – 1-for-4 (1st) ; La Salle – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Wagner – YC (Head coach Ciaran Wolohan, 2:54 left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Mike Gordon ; Igor Mernenko | |||||
La Salle University’s Karl Miller (#6) readies to fire off a shot as Wagner College’s Shaked Yacoby (#9) defends the effort
Wagner College’s Lachlan Trabinger (#11) drops off a pass as La Salle University’s Karl Miller (#6) charges in on defense
La Salle University’s Callin Chimilar (#18) attempts to prevent Wagner College’s Tyler Williams (#2) from moving the ball up tank
