EMMITSBURG, Md. (November 6, 2025) – Mount St. Mary's men's water polo travels to New York City on Saturday, November 8, taking on Wagner in Staten Island and No. 5 Fordham in the Bronx. With their wins against the Seahawks and Mercyhurst last weekend, the Mountaineers moved to a 3-7 record in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference.
 
MOUNT UPDATE
 
Against Wagner, the Mountaineers started the match with a narrow 5-4 lead heading into the first intermission. Tarr got the scoring started for the Mount, beating the keeper to the near post of the shallow-end cage. Nate Valentine executed upon two brilliant passes from Tarr across the pool to beat the goalkeeper once again, claiming a first half brace. Tarr capitalized on a defensive mismatch from the Seahawks, beat the goalkeeper on the right post. And Wes Reising found the net through traffic on the goalkeeper right to score the fifth and final goal of the quarter.
 
After a score from the Seahawks to start the second, both Chrysostomos Valavanis and Gunner Lanquist scored from the hole set, dominating the Seahawks on the inside. Even with the scoring in the second, the Mountaineers fell behind at halftime, heading into the break, down 8-7.
 
The Mountaineers dominant third quarter started with a goal from beyond the five-meter line from Aaron Tarr. Valentine once again capitalized on his offensive prowess, scoring on a man-up power play. Tarr then rattled off a pair of goals to complete his third quarter followed by a score from Nikolaos Agritelis to extend the lead to 12-9 heading into the final quarter.
 
Tarr got the scoring started again in the fourth, with a goal from deep. Tarr capitalized on a five-meter penalty score before Ayden Hess sent the pool into pandemonium with the next goal. With the score widening, the Seahawk bench substituted their goalkeeper for a field player. And with a costly Wagner turnover in front of net, Sherif Hosni found the ball and sent it sailing into the opposing, empty net for a goal, once again subjugating the fans in attendance to delirium. Tarr scored one last penalty for the Mount before the final siren went, locking in the Mountaineers first win over Wagner in program history.  
 
The Junior player out of South Africa scored eight goals for the Mountaineers on Halloween, with Tarr also notching four assists to teammates and two drawn exclusions. Valentine contributed to the win with four goals while recording an assist and two recorded steals. Hosni recorded 10 saves in goal while recording a goal from deep, an assist, a steal, and a drawn exclusion.
 
The Mountaineers came out firing in game two of the day against Mercyhurst, with Aidan Zieger scoring on the Mount's first possession of the game. Belesis capitalized on a quick turnover, recording another score for the Mountaineers. A flurry of goals from Chrysostomos Valavanis, Ayden Hess, Gunner Lanquist, and Belesis again put the Mountaineers in the driver seat, heading into the first intermission up 6-4.
 
Belesis got the scoring started again during the first Mount possession of the second quarter before Matthews found the net for the first time against Mercyhurst. Tarr and Valentine found net in succession before Ivan Morales scored, caping off a 5-0 shutout second quarter for the Mountaineers.
 
Valentine found the net to start the third followed by a goal from Wes Reising on Senior Day rounding out a 2-1 quarter win. Lanquist scored to start the fourth, stretching the Mount goal tally to 14. A timeout for the Mountaineers was called with little more than three and a half minutes left in the quarter, as Hosni changed caps with Morales, allowing the junior field player from Illinois to play in goal and the senior goaltender to play in the field. More goals by both the Mountaineers and the Lakers were scored through the remaining minutes, but the crescendo of the game came in a selfless act by Hosni, passing the ball when he was one-on-one with the Mercyhurst goalkeeper to Andrew Norris, who palmed the ball into the net for the score.
 
Belesis tallied five goals against the lakers while providing seven assists to teammates and completing five steals. Lanquist tallied a hat trick on Senior Day while Tarr also recorded a triple as well. Every single senior in the pool besides Hosni recorded a goal against Mercyhurst. Along with his field assist, Hosni recorded eight saves and goal and Morales recorded two saves in his short appearance in the cage.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
 
Since their last meeting on Halloween Night, the Seahawks recorded losses against both Navy and George Washington by scored of 13-9 and 19-14 respectively. Through 23 games of the 2025 season, Wagner is 9-14 with a 1-4 record in the MAWPC with four conference games to go.
 
Fordham has gone on a run of 10-2 since their last meeting with the Mount on September 21, recording wins against No. 13 Princeton, No. 20 George Washington, No. 10 Long Beach, and No. 8 San Jose State. The Rams owe their two losses in that 12-game stretch to No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 California, losing to the Cardinal and Golden Bears by scores of 19-10 and 15-14 respectively.
 
ALL-TIME RECORD
 
The Mountaineers are 1-8 and 0-11 against Wagner and Fordham respectively, with their win against the Seahawks on October 31 being their first in the history of Mount men's water polo.