Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Basics
• Scores:
#1 Whittier-13, #8 Johns Hopkins-10
#6 Redlands-14, #8 Johns Hopkins-11
• Records: JHU (5-13) • WC (7-9) • UR (9-8)
• Location: Claremont, CA • Axelrood Aquatics Center/Haldeman Pool
• The Short Story: The eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins water polo team dropped its final two matches at the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament Saturday against top-ranked Whittier and sixth-ranked Redlands.
 
How it Happened • Whittier
• Whittier jumped out to a two-goal lead, but goals from sophomore Jake Pearson and junior Nico Ivanov tied the score at two with 2:56 to go in the first. The Poets responded with a pair of goals to go up 4-2 after one quarter.
• Senior Finn Banks opened the second quarter scoring to pull Hopkins within one. Whittier answered with seven straight in a run that spanned nearly seven and a half minutes as the Poets stormed out to an 11-3 lead. Junior John Murphy ended the run with a goal with 5:13 to go in the third, followed by an Ivanov goal to make it an 11-5 game. Whittier scored with just one tick left on the clock to take a 12-5 lead into the fourth.
• The Poets tacked on another goal to open the fourth to go up 13-5. The Blue Jays weren't going away however. Freshman Chris Freese scored back-to-back goals to spark a five-goal run that trimmed the deficit to three with 25 seconds remaining. That's as close as Hopkins could get however as Whittier held on for the win.
 
How it Happened • Redlands
• Redlands opened the game by sandwiching a pair of goals around a strike from sophomore Jayden Kunwar to go up 2-1 early. Senior Finn Banks scored to tie the game and just 41 seconds later, Ivanov put the Blue Jays on top, 3-2. The Bulldogs answered with back-to-back goals to take a 4-3 lead into the second quarter.
• UR picked up where it left off, scoring five straight goals to go up 9-3 with 38 seconds remaining in the half. Banks ended the run when he scored with 12 ticks left to make it a 9-4 game at the break.
• The Blue Jays came out firing to start the third, scoring the first four goals to pull within one, 9-8, with 4:05 to go in the third. The Bulldogs responded with four unanswered to push their lead back to five early in the fourth. Ivanov scored with 5:39 to play to ignite a 4-1 run that saw Hopkins trim the deficit to three but the Blue Jays couldn't completely close the gap.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Banks (2g, 3a) and Ivanov (3g, 2a) led the Blue Jays with five points each against Whittier. Junior Olin Shipstead and freshman Kamran Eslami handed out two assists and Freese scored twice. Junior Max Fleming made eight saves and had a steal for the Blue Jays.
• Banks poured in four goals and three assists to go with four steals against the Bulldogs. Ivanov added two goals, two assists and three steals. Shipstead and Kunwar scored two goals each.
• Kunwar totaled five points on the day to reach 100 for his career. He is the second Blue Jay this season to do so.
 
Up Next
• Hopkins returns to action on Friday, October 11 as the Blue Jays host the Navy Midshipmen. The Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference contest is slated for a 7:00 pm start.