ANNAPOLIS, Md. (September 8th, 2024) – Mount St. Mary's suffered two tough losses on Sunday at the Navy Open to Gannon and Biola, with the results ending in 14-12 and 15-14, respectively for the Mount. The Mount picked up a win in their season opener against McKendree on Saturday with a 18-14 win against the Bearcats, but fell in succession to Occidental by an score of 13-10 in overtime and 21-7 against No. 17 Navy.
Mount St. Mary's 18, McKendree 14
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Mount St. Mary's 4 4 4 6 18
McKendree 5 3 5 1 14
Goals: Bellesis 5, Nicholas 2, Valavanis 2, Lemishko 2, Valentine 2, Fox 2, Lanquist 1, Tarr 1, Horan 1
Saves: Marinkovic 6
Mount St. Mary's started off the 2024 season on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. in Annapolis with their opening game coming against McKendree. A six goal fourth quarter sealed the game for the Mount in the end as they beat McKendree 18-14. Junior
Alexandros Bellesis scored five of his 16 goals scored during the first game of the weekend to give the Mount their first win of the year. Along with offensive gains, graduate student
Vasilije Marinkovic recorded six saves between the posts in his first game as a Mountaineer.
Occidental 13, Mount St. Mary's 10
Team 1 2 3 4 OT F
Mount St. Mary's 4 0 1 5 0 10
Occidental 4 2 2 1 3 13
Goals: Valentine 3, Valavanis 2, Lemishko 1, Bellesis 1, Zieger 1, Tarr 1, Broadway 1
Saves: Maxson 10
The Mount continued with their second game on Saturday as they took on Occidental for the first time in program history. After trailing during the second and third quarters, the Mount went on the counter attack in the fourth, scoring four goals in three minutes, with the final goal coming from a penalty shot scored by Bellesis with two seconds left on the clock to take the game to overtime. Occidental scored all three goals in overtime besting the Mount 13-10 in the second game of the day.
Navy 21, Mount St. Mary's 7
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Mount St. Mary's 1 2 1 3 7
Navy 5 10 4 2 21
Goals: Valavanis 1, Lemishko 1, Williams 1, Bellesis 1, Tarr 1, Fox 1
Saves: Hosni 5
Next, the Mount took on No.17 Navy in their home pool for their third and final game on Saturday. Navy controlled play immediately as they scored five goals in the first quarter and would jump out to a 15-3 lead at the end of the half. Player exclusions caused the most trouble as the Midshipmen converted eight goals on 6v5's. Navy would go onto win 21-7 against the Mountaineers with five of their goals coming from the counter and four coming from penalties.
Gannon 14, Mount St. Mary's 12
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Mount St. Mary's 2 4 2 4 12
Gannon 5 6 1 3 14
Goals: Bellesis 4, Foster 3, Valavanis 1, Lemishko 1, Valentine 1, Fox 1, Horan 1
Saves: Hosni 8
Returning to Annapolis on Sunday for the final day of the Open, the Mount took on Gannon for their fourth game of the weekend. After falling behind 11-6 at the half, the Mount fought back, pulling within two goals with 30 seconds left. The Mount was unable to complete the comeback and fell, 14-12.
Biola 14, Mount St. Mary's 15
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Mount St. Mary's 2 3 6 3 14
Biola 3 4 3 5 15
Goals: Bellesis 5, Valavanis 4, Tarr 2, Wallace-Whitfield 1, Lemishko 1, Foster 1
Saves: Marinkovic 10
In the fifth and final game of the weekend, the Mount took on Biola in what would be a test for the Mountaineers. After exchanging goals throughout the first half, Biola kept putting on the pressure as they led 15-13 with two minutes left. A goal from open play by senior
Nicholas Wallace-Whitfield cut the deficit to on, but with time running out, the Mount lost, 15-14.
Eye Popping Stats
Continuing from his sophomore campaign,
Alexandros Bellesis scored 16 goals across the two days at the Navy Open, with five alone coming against McKendree on Saturday. Fellow junior
Chrysostomos Valavanis scored 10 goals in the five games with four goals coming against Biola on Sunday. Sophomore
Nate Valentine and senior
Michael Lemishko shared six goals a piece with the later adding three assists to his weekend tally. Graduate Student
Vasilije Marinkovic recorded 17 saves across the weekend while junior
Sherif Hosni recorded 13 saves.
Upcoming
Mount St. Mary's returns to competition this weekend with four games at the Salem Invitational. The Mount begins the weekend with a rematch against Gannon on Saturday at 2:40 p.m.
