The Basics
• Scores: George Washington-12, Johns Hopkins-11
• Records: JHU (1-6, 0-1 MAWPC) • GW (3-6, 1-0 MAWPC)
• Location: Baltimore, MD • Newton White Aquatic Center
• The Short Story: Playing at home for the first time in 684 days, the Johns Hopkins water polo team nearly pulled off the come-from-behind over George Washington in both teams' Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference opener.
 
How it Happened
• George Washington jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game's opening 57 seconds. Freshman Cameron Burns got Hopkins on the board and sliced the deficit in half at the 6:37-mark. The Colonials answered however with three straight to push out to a 5-1 lead with 2:02 to go in the quarter. Senior Jayden Kunwar scored with 1:35 to play to make it a 5-2 game at the end of one.
• Kunwar opened the second-quarter scoring with a five-meter goal to pull Hopkins within two. Just 36 seconds later, Andras Levai scored to put GW back up three. Junior Chris Freese scored back-to-back goals and JHU was down one midway through the second. DJ Davis and Kunwar traded goals in the final three and a half minutes and the Colonials took a 7-6 lead into the half.
• Henry Maas scored to open the third quarter and push GW's lead to two just 48 seconds in. Freese and senior Emerson Sullivan responded with a pair of goals in a 62-second span and just like that, the game was tied. Davis gave the visitors back the lead with 2:38 to go in the quarter, but another Sullivan goal knotted the score at nine. Maas would score as time expired in the quarter to put George Washington up 10-9 after three.
• Antonin Kralj scored early in the fourth to stake the Colonials to an 11-9 lead. Burns answered just 15 seconds later and the deficit was one. Freese then knotted the score at 11 with his fourth of the night with 2:29 to play. Viktor Jovanovic put GW back on top with 48 seconds remaining and that would turn out be the game-winner.
 
What it Means
• Hopkins falls to 53-34 all-time against George Washington.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Freese's four goals and four points were a career high and marked his second hat trick of the season. Sullivan matched Freese with four points (3g, 1a).
• Kunwar moved into a tie for 18^th in school history with 141 career goals. Graduate student Olin Shipstead moved into a tie for 17^th with 60 career assists. Senior Jake Pearson matched his career-high with three assists.
• Freshman Connor Mechelke made four saves in two quarters and classmate Kyle Pearson finished with six saves.
 
Up Next
• Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, September 25 versus Mount St. Mary's. The MAWPC contest is slated for a 7:00 pm start at the Newton White Aquatic Center.