BRIDGEVILLE, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College men's water polo team hosted the Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Eastern Championship at Chartiers Valley High School over the weekend. The Presidents welcomed five other DIII squads to compete for the CWPA East crown.
 
W&J, the fifth seed, fell to top-seeded MIT and number-four seeded Penn State Behrend on Saturday.
 
Date: Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019
Where: Bridgeville, Pa.
Opponent: MIT
Result: L 8-17
 
How it Happened: The Presidents battled the tournament's number one seed and the No. 4 team in the CWPA Men's Varsity Division III Top 10 in the Red and Black's tournament opener. The Presidents hung with the Engineers in the first half, trailing 4-3 at the end of the first quarter and 8-5 at the halftime break. However MIT reeled off five-straight goals in the third quarter to push its advantage to 13-5 and cruised to a 17-8 victory.

Top Performers: Tyler Francis (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) tallied three goals and Will Kitsch (Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) scored twice for the Presidents.
 
The Rest: Cam Spicer (Lansing, Mich./East Lansing), Ian Geister (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Ryan Bannon (Bloomfield, Colo./Bloomfield) each added one tally.
 
 
Date: Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019
Where: Bridgeville, Pa.
Opponent: Penn State Behrend
Result: L 9-13
 
How it Happened: The Presidents matched up with the Lions for the fourth time this season at the CWPA DIII Eastern Championships and it proved to be another competitive match. PSB led 2-1 after a low-scoring first quarter and held a 4-3 advantage at the half. W&J tied the score at four and five in the third quarter, but each time PSB responded with a goal. The Loins led 9-7 going into the fourth quarter, and an early goal by Spicer trimmed the deficit to one. Behrend responded by scoring four of the game's final five goals to take the win 13-9.

Top Performers:  Spicer and Jason Wright (St. Louis, Mo./Linderbegh) each recorded three goals.
 
The Rest: Elijah Muzzi (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) scored twice and Geister had a goal.


Date: Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019
Where: Bridgeville, Pa.
Opponent: Austin
Result: L 7-16

How it Happened: The Presidents and Roos met for the second time this weekend. Austin used a strong second half Sunday to pull away for a 16-7 win over W&J. The victory helped Austin avenge a 23-20 loss at W&J on Friday night. Sunday's contest was the fifth-place match of the CWPA Division III Eastern Championship.

Austin never trailed in Sunday's meeting with the Presidents, as the Roos took a 2-1 edge after the first quarter before building a 5-3 lead at halftime. The Presidents trailed by at least three goals for the duration of the second half. The Roos put the game away in the fourth quarter by outscoring the Presidents by a 6-1 margin in the final frame. 
 
Top Performers: Despite the loss, Spehar registered 11 saves in goal for the Presidents. 
 
The Rest: Seven different Presidents netted one goal to pace the offense. 

 
PLEASE NOTE: Following the conclusion of the tournament, Kitsch was named to the 2019 Division III Eastern Championship All-Tournament First Team.