ERIE, PA – The second-seeded Johns Hopkins water polo team earned wins over Penn State Behrend (21-5) and Augustana (IL) (15-14) to advance to the CWPA Division III Eastern Championship game. The Blue Jays also punch their ticket to the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship.
 
Hopkins raced out to a seven-goal lead on seventh-seeded Penn State Behrend. Jack Holl scored at 6:23 in the second to end the Blue Jays' run and get the Lions on the board. JHU responded with nine straight goals as the Jays pushed out to a 16-1 lead with 2:40 to go in the third.
 
Eugene Kruger and Holl scored back-to-back goals for Penn State Behrend, but sophomore Ian Raley had the final say of the quarter and JHU led 17-3 after three. Graduate student Emerson Sullivan sandwiched a pair of goals around one from junior Paul Gensbigler and it was 20-3 Blue Jays early in the fourth. Will Aikens ended the three-goal run with a strike for the Lions, but freshman Daniel Palfi came right back for the Blue Jays. Holl closed out the scoring with his third of the morning at 2:23 to account for the 21-5 final.
 
In the semifinals, senior Chris Freese and Sullivan gave Hopkins an early 2-0 lead. That lead was short-lived as a pair of Colin McDowell goals, followed by a Mark Addison goal, gave Augustana (IL) a 3-2 lead with 1:43 to play in the first. Raley tied the game just 28 seconds later and then junior Cameron Burns put the Jays back on with 42 ticks on the clock.
 
Raley then opened the scoring in the second to push the Blue Jays' lead to 5-3. The Vikings answered with five straight to go up 8-5 with 2:33 left in quarter. Raley ended the run with a six-on-five goal at 2:02, but goals from Joseph Addison and Mark Addison gave Augustana a 10-6 lead at the half.
 
Raley and freshman Dado Soares scored back-to-back goals to open the third quarter and cut the deficit in half. Two quick goals by the Vikings pushed their lead back to four with 2:10 to play. Sullivan answered at the 1:23-mark to spark a four-goal run that saw the Blue Jays tie the game on Gensbigler's man-up goal at 5:59 in the fourth.
 
Augustana retook the lead on a Joseph Addison goal, but another strike from Gensbigler tied the game at 13 with 4:25 to play. Palfi then converted on a six-on-five to put Hopkins up 14-13, but McDowell answered right back and it was 14 all with 3:34 on the clock. Sullivan then scored what turned out to be the game-winner with 1:29 to play.
 
Hopkins will face top-seeded MIT in the championship game on Sunday, October 23 at 12:00 pm.
 
Inside the Box (Penn State Behrend)
Goals: Gensbigler-4, Sullivan-3, Raley-3, Sadiq-2, Freese-2, Palfi-2, Lo-2, Poisler-1, Eslami-1, Mihalopoulos-1
Assists: Steffey-3, Sadiq-3, Housenbold-3, Mihalopoulos-2, Brooke-2, Palfi-2, Soares-2, Poisler-1, Eslami-1, Raley-1, Freese-1
Steals: Raley-5, Powers-3, Eslami-2, Palfi-2, Housenbold-2, Sullivan-1, Steffey-1, Sadiq-1, Burns-1, Poisler-1, Gensbigler-1, Mihalopoulos-1, Lo-1
Saves: Eslami-3, Raley-2, Brooke-2
 
Inside the Box (Augustana)
Goals: Raley-5, Sullivan-3, Burns-2, Gensbigler-2, Freese-1, Palfi-1, Soares-1
Assists: Pearson-2, Burns-2, Sullivan-1, Gensbigler-1, Freese-1, Mihalopoulos-1, Palfi-1, Soares-1
Steals: Pearson-5, Sullivan-5, Gensbigler-3, Steffey-2, Raley-2, Burns-1, Eslami-1, Freese-1, Mihalopoulos-1, Palfi-1, Soares-1
Saves: Pearson-4
 
Notes: Hopkins is making its 29^th CWPA DIII Eastern title game appearance • The Blue Jays are 19-8 in the title game • Sullivan now has 279 career points and ranks 13^th in program history • He also now ranks eighth with 222 career goals • Freese moves into 17^th place with 66 career assists.