CAMBRIDGE, MA – The Johns Hopkins water polo team picked up a pair of wins on day one of the 2023 CWPA Division III Eastern Championship. Hopkins opened the day with a 20-6 win over Penn State Behrend and then defeated Conn College, 24-6.
In the day's first match, with the game tied at one, sophomore
Gavin Brooke scored back-to-back goals to spark a four-goal run. Eugene Kruger and Jeff Elliott ended the run with a pair of goals for the Lions and it was 5-3 JHU early in the second. Sophomore
Dado Soares answered with an even-strength goal to ignite a 7-0 run as the Blue Jays pushed out to a 12-3 lead just 27 seconds into the third.
Elijah Anderson halted the run with a goal for Penn State at 7:14. Senior
Chris Lo then sandwiched a pair of goals around a strike from junior
Ian Raley and the lead was 15-4 with 3:09 to play in the third. Elliott got one back for the Lions but JHU answered with three straight over a nearly six minute span to push out to an 18-5 lead midway through the fourth.
Brown scored for Penn State to put an end to the run, but Hopkins closed out the game with goals from Raley and senior
Liam Housenbold to take the 20-6 victory.
Hopkins raced out to an 8-0 lead in the nightcap, led by a pair of goals from freshman
Ethan Babel. Grant Archer got the Camels on the board at the 2:06-mark in the second, but a
Daniel Palfi score kick started a six-goal run that saw the Blue Jays' lead balloon to 14-1 with 4:45 to go in the half.
Ethan Hipsky scored for Conn College to temporarily end the run, but JHU came right back with three unanswered and just like that the lead was 17-2. Jesse Ellis and Cormac Stevens then got back-to-back goals for the Camels but a late goal from freshman
Max Blecher made it an 18-4 game after three. Hopkins went on to outscore Conn College, 6-2, in the fourth quarter to grab the 24-6 win.
Brooke and Palfi led the Blue Jays with three goals and one assist each versus Penn State Behrend. Babel tallied a team-high four assists. Lo, Raley and freshman
Owen Bartlett each had two goals against the Lions. Senior
Shayan Sadiq, sophomore
Jason Mihalopoulos and Soares turned in three-point (1g, 2a) performances. Graduate student
Saahil Naik finished with 12 saves in the win.
Against the Camels, Lo led the Blue Jays with a career-high four goals and five points. Junior
Mark Poisler notched his first career hat trick. Brooke and Soares led the team with three assists each, with Soares tallying the 100
th point of his career. Blecher added four points (2g, 2a) while senior
Paul Gensbigler (2g, 1a) and Palfi (2g, 1a) each had three points. Freshman
Chris Poisler finished with seven saves and two steals for the win.
Hopkins closes out the weekend and looks to capture its 21
st CWPA DIII Eastern Championship on Sunday versus host MIT. The match is scheduled for a 10:15 am start.
