Princeton, NJ - The Wagner men's water polo team earned three wins at the Princeton Invite this weekend, headlined by a victory over No. 13 Navy in the finale of the tournament.
Game 1 Results: Wagner 15 - Iona 13
Wagner was able to jump out to a 5-1 lead after the first frame of action. The Seahawks had five different goal scorers as junior Mattia Bognolo, senior Barnabas Vidovics, junior Kyle Chambers, senior Zsombor Gyemant, and sophomore Eliot Alvarez all found the back of the net. The Green & White held onto a 7-6 lead after two quarters of play. Wagner scored two goals in the second, as Gyemant and Vidovics found the back of the net.
Wagner trailed by one after three quarters despite finding the back of the net four times in the frame. Sophomore Laszlo Strasser scored three goals in the third quarter as senior Ryan Lanier added a tally during the quarter. The Seahawks stormed back in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Gaels 4-1. Vidovics, Strasser, and Chambers all scored in the final frame of the game. Chambers added two to his total, giving him the hat-trick with forty-three ticks left in the game.
Game 2 Results: Wagner 13 - LIU 10
The Seahawks led 5-3 after one quarter of play. For the second straight game, Chambers, Strasser, Vidovics, Gyemant, and Bognolo all tallied one goal in the opening stanza. Wagner would go into halftime with a 9-7 lead after Chambers, Bognolo, and Strasser added goals to the Green & White's total.
Wagner and LIU tied 3-3 throughout the second half. The Seahawks found two goals from Chambers in the third, and one from junior captain Andrew Cowie in the final quarter of competition. The Seahawks would prevail 13-10 over the Sharks.
Game 3 Results: Wagner 6 - #6 Princeton 17
The Seahawks trailed by two after one quarter, with Cowie chalking up the lone goal of the frame as Princeton held a 3-1 lead. Cowie continued his play in the pool with a goal in the second quarter, along with Chambers scoring his own goal with a minute and a half into the frame. At half, Wagner trailed 6-3.
Strasser and Vidovics found the back of the net with goals during the third quarter. The Green & White could not find the back of the net during the final frame of competition, and would drop their first and only game of the Invite, 17-6.
Game 4 Results: Wagner 13 - #13 Navy 12
Wagner wrapped up the weekend with a 13-12 double overtime win over No. 13 Navy.
After one quarter, the Seahawks and Midshipmen were knotted at three. Laszlo Strasser led the way for Wagner in the frame with two goals. Freshman Vince Varga scored his first goal of the weekend in the second as Bognolo and Strasser would add to Wagner's total in the second quarter as well. After one half, the Seahawks were down one, 8-7.
The Green & White would even the score after the third frame, 9-9. Strasser and Vidovics continue to find the back of the net for Wagner, with Strasser netting the equalizer with 1:44 left in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, both sides scored two goals to bring the score to 11-11 at the end of regulation. In overtime, Strasser wasted no time getting the Seahawks on top 12-11. After a response from Navy's Sam Collingwood, Zsombor Gyematt scored his second of the competition with 1:16 left in overtime, to push Wagner over No. 13 Navy, 13-12.
This win is tied for the biggest in program history. During the 2018 season, Wagner defeated #13 Brown at the Harvard Invite, 10-9, on October 14th.
The Seahawks will next take place in the Bison Invitational from Saturday, September 16 to Sunday, September 17.
