STANFORD, CT – Augustana (IL) got an unassisted goal from Rhys Lomax 17 seconds into the fourth overtime to lift the Vikings to a 16-15 win over Johns Hopkins in the MPSF East Water Polo Championship game at Stanford on Sunday afternoon. The win improves Augustana's record to 17-8 and the Vikings claim their fourth consecutive MPSF East title with the victory. Johns Hopkins, which is in its first season in the league, slips to 21-7.
The teams battled to a 12-all tie through regulation, then split six goals through two mandatory overtime periods to extend into sudden death in the third extra period. Johns Hopkins' Kyle Pearson posted a pair of saves in the third overtime period and his counterpart, Declan Hutton, had one to extend the game into the fourth overtime period.
There, the Vikings won the opening sprint for possession and it was Lomax getting his hands free for the game-winner just 17 ticks into the period.
Early on, Augustana sprinted out to a quick 3-0 lead as three different Vikings scored in the opening 4:23 to help build the early cushion.
Johns Hopkins answered with a 4-1 spurt over the next five minutes with a Phil Long goal jump-starting the spree in the first quarter and back-to-back goals from freshmen Mason Hofmann and Luke Mendelsohn in a 30-second span early in the second pulling the Blue Jays even at 4-4.
The 4-4 tie was the first of four times the game would be even in regulation, but the Blue Jays would also enjoy five, two-goal advantages before overtime, including a 12-10 margin late in the fourth quarter. A Mendelsohn goal with 2:17 on the fourth-quarter clock gave Hopkins the fifth of those two-goal margins.
Pearson made two saves and Mendelsohn added a block over the next 40 seconds, but Augustana drew within 12-11  with 1:33 remaining in regulation and Lomax got the equalizer 28 seconds later. Pearson added a late save for Johns Hopkins to send the game to overtime.
The Blue Jays would answer an overtime-opening goal with back-to-back strikes from Ben Lucas and Mendelsohn to grab a 14-13 lead, but things were even again by the end of the period after Oscar Bannister scored with 19 seconds remaining in the first overtime.
Johns Hopkins used a Hofmann goal off an Owen Bartlett assist early in the second extra period to grab a 16-15 lead, only to have Lomax force sudden death with his second goal of the game.
That set the stage for the two goalies to stand tall in the third overtime and the Lomax game-winner early in the fourth.
Mark Addison led the way for the Vikings as he had four goals and four assists, while Lomax added three goals and one assist. Hutton recorded 19 saves in goal for Augustana.
Hofmann (3g, 4a) and Mendelsohn (3g, 3a) combined for six goals and seven assists for the Blue Jays, who also got two goals from Long, Ben Lucas and Andrew Lee. Pearson totaled 13 saves in goal for Johns Hopkins.
With his 13 saves, Pearson pushed his career total to 511, which breaks the previous Johns Hopkins record of 902 (John Wilson (2014-17)).
Mendelsohn and Hofmann's six and seven-point days push their season point totals to 102, which breaks the previous Johns Hopkins single-season record for points by a freshman. The previous record of 100 points was set by Giorgio Cico in 2015. In addition, Hofmann broke the JHU single-season record for goals by a freshman as he now has 63.
- 30 -
