MID-ATLANTIC WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS
November 19^th-21^st
Annapolis, Md. | Lejeune Hall
 
CWPA TV ($)
 
EMMITSBURG, Md. (November 17, 2021) – Seeded in the eighth position after their first year in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference East, Mount St. Mary's faces an uphill climb at the Conference Championships this weekend. The United States Naval Academy hosts all matchups.
 
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
 
Each team will play three contests and can improve or decrease their position based on performance. Seedings were determined by record and tie-breaking procedures. The Mount's eighth place position was the result of a 1-11 conference mark and a loss to Gannon earlier in the year. That means they open the tournament with top-seeded Fordham in a must win to remain in title contention.
 
Saturday will see the Mount square off with Bucknell or Wagner, depending on who wins and who loses. Sunday's opponent is decided on results from the first two days.
 
MOUNT UPDATE
 
Closing out the regular season at home, the Mount went 1-3 on the final weekend. After a dramatic game and heartbreaking defeat against Johns Hopkins, the Mountaineers won a contest over Penn State Behrend Saturday. On the final day of the schedule, Jason O'Donnell scored his 100^th goal of the year.
 
O'Donnell finished the campaign with 103 goals while also leading the team with 93 steals. Goaltender Marko Kruska finished with 294 saves, and Eli Thalos led with 50 assists.
 
THE FIELD
 
Fordham earned the top spot after posting an 11-1 record, their lone defeat coming to Johns Hopkins. The Rams took three contests against the Mount this year, two of those affecting conference standings. Navy took the runner-up spot, followed by George Washington, Bucknell, Wagner, Johns Hopkins, Gannon and Mount St. Mary's.
 
Gannon enters the tournament as the winner of the MAWPC-West. The Mount transitioned out of that conference last year, completing a third place finish in their inaugural season.