Men's Water Polo | September 15, 2019

ERIE, Pa. –The Explorers mirrored their results from yesterday, going 1-1 on Sunday and taking a total of two victories from the Mercyhurst Invitational. In the morning, the team outplayed Mercyhurst in its home pool and emerged with an 18-8 triumph. The Blue & Gold later fell to Gannon.  Junior Daniel Domotor made his impact felt, recording eight goals and five assists over the pair of games.
 
La Salle 18, Mercyhurst 8
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening quarter was tightly contested as Mercyhurst netted the opener and La Salle answered back quickly with two goals. The Lakers responded, the Explorers jumped back in front, the home side tied things again until freshman Callin Chimilar gave La Salle a 4-3 lead after one.
• Mercyhurst began the following frame brightly with a goal, but Tom Hyham's men countered emphatically. The Explorers tallied six unanswered to control the quarter and head into halftime with a 10-4 lead.
• Chimilar recorded his hattrick early in the third, sandwiched between a Mercyhurst goal. With La Salle up 12-5, the Lakers rattled off three strikes to close the gap—but only momentarily. The Explorers answered with a three-goal run of their own to regain their seven-goal advantage.
• The fourth quarter belonged to the Explorers as they shut out the Lakers in their pool. Senior Joey DeFusco scored twice and junior Ash Lyne netted once to ice the game for La Salle.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Three Explorers had hattricks in this one: Domotor, Lyne and Chimilar. La Salle's number seven also added three assists, second only to Joey DeFusco on four.
• DeFusco had a brace to join junior Karl Miller and sophomore Tyler Williams on two for the game.
• Junior Cole Strohson had a disruptive game defensively with team-highs in steals (three) and blocks (two). DeFusco, Lyne and freshman Chris Scoboria were tied for second stickiest fingers with two steals each.
• In net, junior Cameron Schiable recorded eight saves, including a five-meter stop, and one assist.

Gannon 17, La Salle 11
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The second match of the day began as a back and forth affair, with the team trading goals twice. The Golden Knights scored twice to finish the first with a 4-2 lead.
• La Salle battled back to tie things up at 4-4, however Gannon then embarked on a run of four goals unanswered to open up the game again. Domotor struck to bring one back and make it a three-goal deficit heading into the half.
• The Golden Knights opened the frame with a pair of goals. Williams stopped the run, but only for an instant; Gannon scored three more to make it 13-6 after three.
• The fourth began with another goal from the opposition and an eight-goal deficit proved too much for the Explorers. La Salle would outscore Gannon 5-4 in the final period, but the Golden Knights emerged victorious.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Domotor was La Salle's most lethal threat in front of net with five goals. The other Explorer with multiple goals against the Golden Knights was senior Jeff Brady, who netted a brace.
• The Hungarian also dished out two assists, tied for the team lead with Stohson and DeFusco.
• La Salle's number four recorded a team-high four kickouts drawn, while senior Luke Waechter paced the Explorers in steals with three.

UP NEXT

• La Salle has a heavy schedule next weekend, beginning with its home opener on Friday against Navy. They then take the short trip to Lewisburg for the Bucknell Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.