Tournament Central
CWPA Release
Tournament Rosters
Annapolis, MD – The Wagner men's water polo team defeated Bucknell, 8-7 on Friday to advance to the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) semifinals.
The Seahawks will take on the top seeded Fordham University Rams on Saturday afternoon for a right to go to the MAWPC championship game
Wagner (7) vs. Bucknell (6)
The Bison got off to a quick start as they outscored the Seahawks 4-0 in the opening stanza. The Seahawks battled back and got within two goals heading into the intermission on goals from sophomore Zsombor Gyémánt and fifth-year
Jack Leighton.
The Seahawks put a stamp on the contest in the second quarter as they outscored Bucknell 6-3 in the final 16 minutes of the contest. In the third frame, Junior Olivér Fodor found the back of the net twice as
Jack Leighton scored his second goal of the contest. The quarterfinal match headed to the final frame deadlocked at five. Fodor gave Wagner their first lead of the afternoon 51 seconds into the fourth before the Bison equalized 63 seconds following Fodor's goal. Junior
Ben Zovickian found the back of the net to give the Seahawks a 7-6 advantage with 5:33 remaining before
Jack Leighton completed his hat trick to double the Wagner lead with 4:27 remaining. Senior netminder
Ethan Zirh stopped two penalty shots in the final three minutes of the contest to preserve the victory, the second save came with 25 seconds remaining to hold onto a 8-7 lead and give the Seahawks the narrow victory.
Ethan Zirh tallied seven saves and one steal in the victory while Fodor and Leighton each tallied hat tricks. In addition to his hat trick, Leighton dished out three assists, tallied four steals and won three sprints.
Wagner has qualified for the semifinals in three of the last four MAWPC tournaments, the last time they faced Fordham in the tournament they defeated Fordham in the third-place match in 2018, 10-6.
The Green & White will attempt to beat Fordham for the first time this season in their third attempt. In the two previous matches, the Rams got the better of the Seahawks, first on September 19 when the Rams claimed a 15-11 victory at the Bison Invitational and on October 22 when Fordham claimed a 12-5 in the Bronx.
Wagner enters the contest riding a season high four-game winning streak and a 7-6 record in MAWPC play. Fordham enters with a 24-6 record and an 11-1 record in MAWPC and winners of 10 of their last 12 contests.
The contest is set to begin at 4:30 P.M. on the campus of the United States Naval Academy and is available on College Water Polo Association Television.
