Men's Water Polo Headed to MPSF East 3rd Place Game
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - After dropping its opening game against USC and falling late versus Penn State Behrend, the Austin College men's water polo team dominated Wheaton to advance to the MPSF East third place game against Washington & Jefferson on Sunday morning on the campus of UCLA.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - After dropping its opening game against USC and falling late versus Penn State Behrend, the Austin College men's water polo team dominated Wheaton to advance to the MPSF East third place game against Washington & Jefferson on Sunday morning on the campus of UCLA.
Anthony Sury tallied and the 'Roos also benefited from an own goal by Division I powerhouse USC in a 31-2 defeat to open up the championships on Friday, and after falling behind 4-2 at halftime against Penn State Behrend in the MPSF East semifinals, the 'Roos came from behind to grab a 7-6 lead in the fourth quarter but PSB evened things up with 3:36 left and scored what would prove to be the game winner with just under a minute remaining. The 'Roos were unable to find the equalizer in the closing moments of the game, sending them to a consolation matchup against Wheaton later in the afternoon on Saturday. Sury scored three times and Jack Stack, Aidan Wade, Sebastian Scheier, and Preston Fiala each found the back of the cage once in the loss.
Austin College took a 3-1 lead over Wheaton in the team's second game on Saturday, and used a 6-0 second quarter to take a commanding 9-1 lead into halftime. The 'Roos extended the margin to 16-1 heading into the fourth quarter and coasted from there, putting four more shots into the net to earn a spot in Sunday morning's third place game against W&J. Joshua Nelms led the way with six goals for Austin College, and Fiala and Colin Stewart each tallied three times. Carlos Camerena scored twice, while Gabe Daniels, Nic Ruggiero, Charlie Howe, Sury, Wade, and Scheier scored once each. Christian Saravia had nine blocks, two steals, and four assists tending goal for Austin College.
The 'Roos, who are now 11-9 overall this season, will wrap up their 2024 campaign on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. PST against Washington & Jefferson.