Sept. 25, 2006
PROVIDENCE, RI - The #20 Johns Hopkins water polo team (7-5) went 2-1 at the 2006 ECAC Championships to finish in fifth place. The eighth seed in the tournament, the Blue Jays opened against #1 seed and defending champion, St. Francis. The Terriers are ranked #14 in the nation and have beaten the Blue Jays twice already this season.
Hopkins suffered its third loss of the season to St. Francis in the opening round of the tournament, in a 17-8 decision. The Terriers held junior Sean McCreery (Pleasant Hill, CA/ De La Salle), the reigning Division III Player of the Year, scoreless in the match. Sophomore Anthony Leonardi (San Bernadino, Ca/Arroyo Valley) led Hopkins with three goals, followed by sophomore Peter Davis (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) with two. The Terriers were led by Nemanja Pucarevic with six goals in the match.
Hopkins then faced host Brown University, coming out with a 13-9 win in a contentious affair. Tthree Blue Jays were called for misconduct penalties and Brown Head Coach Jason Gall was awarded a red card. Hopkins jumped on Brown in the second quarter as a result, winning the frame 4-0 to take a 6-3 lead into the half. After JHU extended its lead to 9-4 in the third, the Bears broke out of their funk, scoring five goals, three from Grant LeBeau. It was not enough, as Hopkins held on for the win. McCreery led the Jays with four goals while Davis had three. Sophomore goalie Chris Hutchens (Los Altos, CA/Bellarmine Prep) made 13 saves in goal for the win.
Next up was Harvard in the fifth-place match, where Hopkins came out on top 15-7. Once again it was McCreery and Davis leading the way with four and three goals respectively. Hutchens and junior Mitch Williams (San Diego, CA/Patrick Henry) split time in goal. Hutchens made six saves, while Williams finished with five.
Hopkins returns to action against Princeton on September 30 in Lewisburg, PA at noon. Hopkins then faces Navy at 8:00 p.m.
