EMMITSBURG, Md. — The men's water polo team battled hard against Mount St. Mary's in a high-scoring, 17-13 loss at the ARCC Swimming Pool on Friday night.
The Seahawks kept pace through much of the contest, staying neck-and-neck and matching the Mountaineers goal for goal in the early stages through the first half before they surged ahead in the final quarters.
Junior
Patrick Ray opened the scoring adding the first goal assisted by senior captain
Laszlo Strasser. Later on, Strasser tallied back-to-back goals for the Seahawks with an assist from junior
Gabe Johnson. Ray added a tally to the scoresheet the last second of the quarter, assisted by Strasser.
Despite the balanced offensive effort, Mount St. Mary's pulled away in the second half. Wagner's defense struggled to contain them, but were able to come back thanks to a balanced attack from sophomore
Smith Connors and freshman
Landon Castillo. Connors was particularly effective on that advantage, scoring twice during the frame, and Ray finished it out contributing another goal.
During the third quarter, the Seahawks drew multiple exclusions. Wagner gave up possession at least eight times to Mount St. Mary's. However, Castillo ended up finding the net with the assist from Connors.
In the last frame, junior
Vince Varga and sophomore
Matan Friedenberg rounded out the scoring with one goal apiece, including Varga's fourth-period strike assisted by Friedenberg. Ray completed his fourth goal of the game and Castillo was able to finish his hat trick.
Statistically, Wagner capitalized on five of its 15 power plays (.333) and converted its lone penalty shot. Sophomore goalkeeper
Filip Petrovic recorded several key saves while facing a relentless 39-shot barrage from the Mountaineers' offense.
The Seahawks will look to regroup quickly as they continue their weekend matchups against Navy in Annapolis, Maryland on Saturday, Nov. 1 and George Washington in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Nov. 2.
Goals: P.Ray (4), L.Castillo (3), S.Connors (2), L.Strasser (2), V.Varga, M.Friedenberg
