The men’s water polo team ended its season by placing seventh in this past weekend’s Collegiate Water Polo Association Eastern Championship.

GW began the tournament with an enormous challenge against No. 1 UMass.

We started off really flat, said Coach Scott Reed.

UMass took advantage of that fact as the Minutemen’s offense exploded during the second half, causing GW to eventually fall 12-1.

GW’s loss to UMass placed it in the losers’ bracket. The Colonials then battled the U.S. Naval Academy in its final match Saturday.

GW once again began very slow.

We started off really flat again, Reed said.

Navy, however, came out strong, going into halftime leading 6-1.

The Colonials increased their intensity and finally began to finish some scoring opportunities. However, it was not enough to prevent the 11-7 loss

Despite the loss, Reed noted some solid play by senior goalkeeper Tony Paster.

Most of the goals (scored by UMass) were not his fault, Reed said.

The Colonials entered their final day of the tournament Sunday with a match looming against Johns Hopkins University for seventh place. This time around, GW finally put up a strong fight.

GW started off slow once again – giving up four quick goals – but senior Rush Taylor then led the Colonials on an offensive surge that netted the team six straight goals. GW would emerge with an 11-8 win.

We were finally able to connect, Reed said.

Although the Colonials only placed seventh in the tournament, Reed was quite satisfied with his team’s performance.

I’m very proud of the guys, he said. We did what we wanted to do this season.

Reed looks for next year to be a time of rebuilding, noting the loss of four talented seniors.

Two of those seniors were named all-conference last week. Rush Taylor was named to the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division first team, while Tony Paster made second team.

GW men’s water polo finished the season 7-21.