Sept. 13, 2014 Mercyhurst Box Score
Bucknell Box Score
LEWISBURG, PA - The Johns Hopkins water polo team split its matches on Saturday at the Bucknell Invitational, defeating Mercyhurst but falling to host Bucknell. The Blue Jays are now 2-3 on the season and 0-2 in the CWPA Southern Division. Hopkins beat Mercyhurst, 13-6, and then fell to Bucknell, 9-7, in the nightcap.
Hopkins jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Mercyhurst, led by a pair of goals from freshman Jono Gillette. The Lakers finally got on the board midway through the second period with a goal from Alex Strong. The Lakers would score the next two goals to make it a 5-3 game at the half. Senior co-captain Johnny Beal opened the third by sandwiching a pair of goals around a strike from Strong and Hopkins led 7-4 with 3:53 to go in the quarter.
The Lakers answered with back-to-back goals, including a five-meter, in a 34-second span to make it just a one goal game. Sophomore Camden Schreeder had the final say of the quarter though, scoring with just 25 seconds remaining to push the Blue Jays' lead to two. Schreeder's goal ignited a five-goal game-ending run as Hopkins dominated the fourth quarter.
Beal and Schreeder led the Blue Jays with three goals apiece, while Schreeder also added a pair of assists for a career-best five points. Beal grabbed four steals and junior Kevin Yee swiped a team-best five steals. Junior Erik Henrikson finished with 11 saves in the win.
In the nightcap, Bucknell and Hopkins traded goals in the game's opening three minutes. But the Bison would take a 2-1 lead into the second after Stefan Aleksic converted a five-meter shot with 1:16 to play. Bucknell then pushed its lead to two with a goal from Jeff Hagen less than three minutes into the second. Junior Garrett Davidson answered for the Blue Jays at the 4:46-mark and the teams proceeded to trade goals over the next 10 minutes.
Trailing 6-4 as the clock ticked under three minutes in the third quarter, junior Langdon Froomer scored to pull the Blue Jays within one. Beal then scored to open the fourth quarter and the game was tied. RJ Moore answered for the Bison, scoring at 4:33 to put the home team back on top. But the lead lasted less than a minute as sophomore Matt Fraser scored to tie the game at seven apiece. Bucknell would have the final say however, scoring two goals in the game's final 24 seconds to get the win.
Gillette led the Blue Jays with a pair of goals, as the only multi-goal scorer for JHU.
Hopkins returns to action at the Bison Invitational on Sunday, September 14. Hopkins will take on Penn State Behrend at 8 am, followed by a 4:00 pm match versus Toronto.
