WASHINGTON, Pa. -- A season-high 23 goals by the Washington & Jefferson College men's water polo team powered the Presidents to a Senior Day victory over Austin on Friday evening.
Prior to the match, seniors
Nick Spehar (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge),
Ian Geister (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and
Dylan Gwinn (Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph) were honored pregame for their four-year contributions to the program.
The first quarter saw the teams battle back and forth with the game tied at one, two four and five.
Cam Spicer (Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) found the back of the net three times as the Presidents and Roos were tied 5-5 going into the second period.
W&J and Austin alternated on another three goals apiece before the Presidents broke ahead 10-8 and then 12-10 late in the first half, however a late Austin goal narrowed the margin to 12-11 at the break.
A 5-2 third quarter that featured three goals by
Will Kitsch (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) pushed the Presidents ahead for good. Back-to-back goals by
Elijah Muzzi (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) and
Tyler Francis (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) pushed the Presidents' lead to 19-13 with just over seven minutes remaining.
Austin trimmed the margin to two (21-19) with just over two minutes remaining, but the consecutive goals by Kitsch pushed the game out of reach for good.
Kitsch led the Presidents with seven goals, five coming in the second half. Spicer scored four times, all in the first half. Francis had three scoring tallies, and Muzzi,
Andrew Edwards (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) and
Ryan Bannon (Bloomfield, Colo./Bloomfield) each scored twice.
Gwinn and Geister each had a Senior Day goal and Spehar made several critical stops, including four in the fourth quarter.
Ethan Moy (New York, N.Y./The High School for Math, Science & Engineering) chipped in with one goal.
The Presidents begin play in the CWPA Division III Eastern Championship this weekend at Chartiers Valley high school. W&J takes on MIT at 10:00 a.m. and Penn State Behrend at 1:30 p.m. to begin tournament play.
