BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins men's water polo team closed its regular season – and celebrated Senior Day – with a thrilling 16-15 sudden-death overtime victory over Salem on Sunday. The Blue Jays finish the regular season at 20-5 after a wild, back-and-forth battle at the Newton White Athletic Center.
 
Before the opening sprint, Hopkins honored its four seniors—Quint Steffey, Iason Mihalopoulos, Gavin Brooke and Daniel Palfi— for their contributions to the program.
 
Salem struck first, as Danko Kesic put the visitors on the board two minutes into the game. Just 32 seconds later, Mihalopoulos drew an exclusion and promptly converted the opportunity to tie the score at 1-1. The Tigers moved back in front on a Marko Zivojinovic penalty, but Hopkins responded with back-to-back goals to take its first lead of the afternoon. Andrew Lee netted his first with 1:15 left in the quarter, and after 3:31 of the second period, Luke Mendelsohn found the cage to give Hopkins a 3-2 edge.
 
Salem tied the match just 18 seconds later, but Steffey answered with a strike of his own to push the Blue Jays ahead 4-3. The Tigers closed the half strong, scoring twice to take a 5-4 lead into the break.
 
The third quarter turned into an offensive shootout, with each team scoring five times. Medun Arsovic extended Salem's lead to 6-4 before Hopkins rattled off three straight goals from Mendelsohn (twice) and Mason Hofmann to move ahead 7-6. Kesic then took over for Salem, scoring three consecutive goals to restore a 9-7 Tigers lead. Hopkins countered with tallies from Hofmann and Patrick Rooney, but Arsovic added one more for Salem to give the Tigers a 10-9 advantage entering the fourth.
 
Hopkins clawed back in the final frame, outscoring Salem 3-2 to force overtime at 12-12. Mendelsohn struck twice—including another exclusion goal—and Hofmann added his third of the day to fuel the Blue Jay push. Salem answered with goals from Gage Buttice and Zivojinovic's second penalty of the match to send the game to extra time.
 
The teams traded blow after blow through overtime, each scoring three times. Lee, Mendelsohn and Owen Bartlett delivered for Hopkins as the score moved to 15-15 after the extra period.
 
With the match pushed to sudden death, it was Mendelsohn who delivered the decisive moment, scoring the golden goal to seal a Senior Day win for the Blue Jays.
 
Hopkins now turns its attention to the postseason and will travel to the West Coast for the MPSF Tournament, beginning Friday, November 21, at Stanford University.

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