Men's Water Polo | September 6, 2019

PHILADELPHIA – La Salle men's water polo is set to begin its second campaign under head coach Tom Hyham with an aim for steady improvement upon 2018. Among the season goals is a first D-1 win in program history, which the Explores have a chance to claim on their opening weekend at the Navy Invite. There they'll play #12 Princeton and Austin College on Saturday, followed by Fordham and #2 UCLA on Sunday.

ABOUT THE EXPLORERS

• La Salle returns a majority of its players from last season's team, including top goalscorers, juniors Daniel Domotor (39) and Cole Strohson (37), along with the team's top provider, senior Joey DeFusco (13 assists).
• Strohson, a team captain this season, was everywhere for the Explorers in 2018, especially as a defensive force. The number four dominated the team charts in kickouts drawn with 50 (31 more than anyone else), steals with 57 (24 more than anyone else) and blocks at 20 (12 more than anyone else).
• Domotor along with senior Jeff Brady were named to the MAWPC's Players to Watch List as both were Second Team All-Conference two seasons ago. Brady is returning from an injury that sidelined him in 2018, but prior to that he paced the Explorers in goals.
• A new number for junior Ash Lyne as he changes from 14 to 10, and he also figures to play a key role in Hyham's squad. The South African utility man posted the third most goals (29) and second most steals (33) last campaign.
• Junior Cameron Schiable returns in net and figures to get a strong look between the sticks. Last Season, he recorded 90 saves and 16 steals.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS

• The Explorers will begin with a tough test against a Tigers team ranked #12 in the nation. Princeton finished 2018 with a 19-11 mark and won the NWPC Tournament.
• Princeton notably went 7-0 in neutral water last season; in fact, it has almost been two years (9/23/17 vs. UC-Santa Barbara) since the Tigers have conceded at a neutral site.
• The Tigers lost their top goalscorer from last season, Matt Payne, to graduation. They do retain their second and third most prolific scorers in junior Alec Mendelsohn and sophomore Keller Maloney.
• They furthermore keep hold of sophomore center Wyatt Benson, who proved to be a nuisance in the water. Benson far and away paced the team in exclusions drawn with 84 (35 more than the next player, Payne).
• With one of two minute-eaters in net graduating (Ryan Melosini), the man between the posts will be sophomore Billy Motherway. In his rookie year, he led the team in saves (196) and save percentage (.531), chipping in with 24 steals.
• Game time: Saturday, 9 a.m.

SCOUTING THE KANGAROOS

• Austin College debuted its water polo program in 2018, going 1-15 with its only win coming in a neutral site game against Monmouth.
• The Kangaroos graduated two seniors last year, Eric Brown and Tyler Brown, and lost three freshmen from last season's team. Despite those losses, the team has grown from 22 players to 26, largely due to a freshman class of 10 newcomers.
• Keep an eye on sophomore Andrew Pope, one of the team's main goal threats. He opened the last campaign scoring nine goals in his first four games of the season.
• Game time: Saturday, 7 p.m.

SCOUTING THE RAMS

• La Salle will get an early look at one of its conference rivals before MAWPC play begins. Last season, Fordham went 16-16, including a pair of wins against the Explorers. The Rams finished 5-7 in neutral play.
• Crucially, Fordham returns senior Jake Miller-Tolt, who fired his way to a spot on the All-MAWPC First Team. Miller-Tolt led the team in most statistical categories, including goals (104), assists (68), steals (64) and blocks (29).
• The only category Fordham's number three didn't lead in was exclusions drawn, which belonged to Ian Watson (49). Watson was named to Second Team All-MAWPC and has since graduated.
• Fordham also lost top shot blocker Patrick Coffey to graduation. However, he was closely followed by sophomore Bailey O'Mara (144 saves), who is expected to play a big part in net this season.
• Game time: Sunday, 9:15 a.m.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS

• La Salle will face its biggest opponent to date when it comes across UCLA, the second-ranked team in the nation. The Bruins went 23-5 last season, 9-2 in neutral locations and narrowly fell to USC in the NCAA Championship semifinals.
• UCLA finished with six players netting more than 30 goals, and it returns four of those players, including leading scorer and First Team All-American, junior Nicolas Saveljic (51 goals). They also retain junior Evan Rosenfield who recorded 13 goals and 14 steals on his way to a Second Team All-American selection.
• The Bruins also return top goalkeeper and First Team All-American Alex Wolf for a redshirt senior year. Wolf recorded 179 saves and a 6.79 goals against average in just over 16 contests.
• Game time: Sunday, 1 p.m.