EMMITSBURG, Md. (October 13, 2024) – Mount St. Mary's men's water polo split their last two games of the weekend with a 15-14 loss to George Washington and a 16-10 win over Johns Hopkins. After the win against the Blue Jays, the Mount moved to 3-5 in conference play, going 2-2 against conference opponents this weekend at the Mount.
 
George Washington 15, Mount St. Mary's 14

Team                          1    2    3    4     F 
Mount St. Mary's              3    4    3    4     14
George Washington             4    3    2    6     15
 
Goals: Valavanis 4, Tarr 3, Horan 3, Sekaric 2, Bellesis 2
 
Saves: Hosni 6, Maxson 5
 
The Revolutionaries were kept on the ropes through the first half of the match as the teams went into the break tied 7-7. But the team found themselves in exclusion trouble as both Aaron Tarr and Alexandros Bellesis were cautioned twice each within the half and had to play safe to stay in the game. To start the third quarter, the Mount jumped out to a goal lead, with Chrysostomos Valavanis scoring his third goal on the day. But George Washington rallied back to a two-goal lead in the fourth with the deciding goals coming within the last minute. Kiahi Horan scored with seven seconds left on the clock, but with no time left, the Mount fell short.
 
Sherif Hosni and Joseph Maxson made six and five saves respectively as the pair were kept busy by the Revolutionaries. Valavanis scored on four occasions while drawing three exclusions. Tarr and Horan scored three goals each while Bellesis and Drasko Sekaric scored two each to round out the scoring efforts.
 
Mount St. Mary's 16, Johns Hopkins 10

Team                          1    2    3    4     F 
Mount St. Mary's              2    5    2    7     16
Johns Hopkins                 2    1    2    5     10
 
Goals: Bellesis 5, Valavanis 3, Hess 2, Tarr 2, Sekaric 1, Valentine 1, Zieger 1, Broadway 1
 
Saves: Marinkovic 13, Maxson 13
 
After a narrow defeat to the Revolutionaries, the Mount returned later in the day to face Johns Hopkins. Right from the start the Blue Jays kept things close, with the score ending 2-2 going into the intermission. But starting the second quarter, the Mount quickly upped the pace, scoring five goals to take a four-goal lead into half time, 7-3. The pressure continued in the 2^nd half as the Mountaineers out scored Johns Hopkins 9-7, with seven goals coming in the final quarter alone for the Mount.
 
Bellesis continued his scoring efforts for the weekend, as he was dominant in front of the cage, scoring five. Valavanis added a hat trick to his days total, scoring seven across the day's games. Tarr scored two while being explosive in transition from one end of the pool to the other. Ayden Hess scored twice while being dominant within the two-meter line. Maxson was dominant in the shallow end cage, making 13 saves while Vasilije Marinkovic made good work in the deep end, also making 13 saves.
 
COMING UP
 
The Mountaineers return to competition on the weekend of October 19-20 at the Brown/Harvard Invitational. They play Brown and UC Merced on October 19 in Providence, R.I. They then travel to Cambridge, Ma. to play Salem and Chapman on October 20.