Men's Water Polo | October 21, 2017
New London, Conn. - The La Salle men's water polo team clinched a winning record in the Mid Atlantic Water Polo for the first time in the program's history with a win over Washington and Jefferson in a three-game day. The Explorers also gathered a win against Penn State Behrend and lost to first-place Gannon. With one game left in the regular season, the Explorers are 4-2 in the MAWPC.
A season ago, the Explorers collected their first win in program history against PSU Behrend. They had success again this season with a tight win over the Lions, 8-7. Sophomore
Jeff Brady scored the decisive goal with just 14 seconds left to break the tie. Brady finished with three goals and drew one ejection.
Daniel Domotor scored twice and recorded three steals.
Ash Lyne had one goal and two steals.
Karl Miller and
Derek DeFusco rounded out the scoring with goals on nice outside shots. In net,
Owain Llewellyn blocked seven shots in the victory.
In La Salle's second game of the morning, the Explorers fell to first place Gannon, 18-6. Domotor scored a highly efficient three goals on four shots. He was also aggressive on defense with two steals that helped keep the game close. At halftime, the Explorers trailed 8-5. However, Gannon's deep and talented bench helped them outscore the Explorers 10-1 in the second half and secure a decisive 18-6 victory.
The Explorers wrapped up the day with a 12-6 win over Washington and Jefferson. In the victory,, La Salle played stifling defense, forcing 15 steals. This made goaltending duties for Llewellyn a bit easier as he faced just 14 shots (blocking eight) and capped off a successful day in which he started all three games and played all but one quarter.
Jacob Camacho had a smooth game on both sides of the ball with two goals, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot.
Derek DeFusco scored three times and gathered four steals.
Cole Strohson also added two goals and an assist. Pat Dougherty,
Karl Miller,
Huw Helman, Brady and Lyne spread the ball around nicely and scored one goal apiece. An impressive nine players registered at least one steal during the game.
"With eight players putting points on the board for us, this game was very satisfying from a coach's perspective," said assistant coach
Andre Nyce after the day. "Washington and Jefferson has a great goalie, but we responded by playing excellent team defense as well as very unselfish play on offense. We moved the goalie out of position and took intelligent shots. Basically, we gripped it and ripped it."
The men's team plays just one more regular season game, against host Connecticut College on Sunday morning at 9:00 AM. The MAWPC postseason tournament begins on November 4.
