EMMITSBURG, Md. (November 19, 2022) – Mount St. Mary's men's water polo secured a win in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship, defeating the Mercyhurst Lakers 18-8 Saturday.
 
The Mount moves up to face Gannon in the 9^th place game Sunday (Nov. 20) morning, starting at 9 a.m.
 
Tommaso Baldineti earned the most goals, duplicating his Friday performance with seven goals. Sophomore Alex Hoy picked up his first career hat trick with four goals on four shots. Although Alexandros Bellesis did not score in the contest, he was most helpful on others' attempts with four assists. Baldineti and Eli Thalos supplied three steals each as the team registered 22 as a group. The goaltenders supplied 15 saves, led by Sherif Hosni with nine.
 
A strong first quarter sealed the contest for the Mount, with Baldineti securing his hat trick before five minutes had played. He would register four in the period with Hoy adding two. Five of the scores came on the counter, power play or penalty. The offense cooled a bit in the second, but they managed to build an 11-4 lead at the break.
 
Distributing playing time in the second half, several Mountaineers saw postseason action against the Lakers. Brody Haney and Beau Stricker logged goals, and Ayden Hess recorded multiple assists and steals. The Mount continued to add gains to their advantage, earning one more goal than the Lakers in the third with a late flurry and two more in the fourth.
 
The win was the first in the postseason for Mount St. Mary's since the inaugural season of Winter 2021. That victory also came against Mercyhurst – an 11-10 final in the third place game for the MAWPC West Championship.
 
Mount St. Mary's 18, Mercyhurst 8
 
Team                  1    2    3    4
Mount St. Mary's      7    4    4    3
Mercyhurst            2    2    3    1
 
Goals: Baldineti 7, Hoy 4, Valavanis 2, Horan 2, Lemishko 1, Haney 1, Stricker 1
 
Saves: Hosni 9, Maxson 6