ERIE, Pa. – The Washington and Jefferson men's water polo team dropped two matches at the Penn State Behrend Invitational Saturday (Nov. 2), to Mercyhurst and Gannon.
Mercyhurst 11, W&J 6
A productive start for the Presidents led to a pair of early goals from
Kailer Spicer (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) and a lone goal from
Brody Souder (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) left things tied 3-3 at the end of the first quarter of play.
Mercyhurst tallied another goal in the second quarter before Souder answered with another mark of his own for W&J. This concluded the scoring for the first 16 minutes of play with both teams heading into the half tied once more, 4-4.
Lack of offense from the Presidents in the final half of play allowed the Lakers to steadily gain a three-point lead after the third period, followed by four in the final quarter. W&J's two goals in the final eight minutes weren't enough to combat the Lakers offense as the team ultimately fell 11-6 at the final buzzer.
Gannon 22, W&J 11
Despite W&J putting up three goals in the first and second quarters of play, Gannon was able to net five scores in each of the first eight minutes of play to head into the second half with a 10-6 edge over the Presidents.
Aidan Johnson (Nassau, Bahamas/Windsor),
Aidan Miller (Grove City, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) and Souder each found the back of the net in the first quarter. Souder, Miller and Spicer accounted for W&J's marks in the second quarter.
Spicer was the only President to score in the third quarter as the Golden Knights took the opportunity to accrue a 14-7 lead.
Miller scored two goals in the fourth quarter as well, sandwiching a goal from Spicer.
Dillon Parker (Nipomo, Calif./Central Coast New Tech) netted the final score for the Presidents in the outing, but their collective offensive efforts were to no avail as Gannon scored eight times in the final eight minutes of play to obtain the 22-11 victory.
W&J returns to action next on Saturday (Nov. 9) as they travel to Sherman, Texas to take on Augustana and host Austin College at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
