This post was written by Hatchet reporter Nora Princiotti.

Through its first four games of the regular season this weekend, the men’s water polo team scored a staggering 73 points, meanwhile, limiting opponents to just 26.

The large disparity led to a perfect 4-0 weekend for the Colonials, success head coach Scott Reed attributed to solid defense and a strong transition offense.

“We played some outstanding defense which is something we’ve been focusing on through the last couple of weeks, and we had a great transition game which was something that we had wanted to put in play this year,” he said.

The regular season opener was a 22-4 rout of Salem International on Friday, the most goals scored by a GW team in the last 10 years.

Thirteen individual players scored goals for the Colonials, with two of those being freshmen Jake Guso and Dennis Gut, who each tallied the first goals of their collegiate careers.

“We were able to go really deep on our benches. I think the real highlight this weekend was our depth, something that we didn’t have much of in the past. The people that came off the bench did an absolutely fantastic job of keeping the transition game going and keeping the defensive effort going,” Reed said.

Fellow freshmen, goalie Sander Profaci, also saw his first minutes as a Colonial, putting together three saves off the bench to relieve starting goalkeeper Connor Dillon, who also put up three saves on the day.

Later that afternoon, senior forward Daniel Tyner’s five goals lead the team to a 19-10 win over Gannon, highlighted again by three transition goals set up by Dillon.

GW began Sunday with a 20-1 defeat of Penn State Behrend, showcasing its depth once-again with 12 different Colonials scoring goals.

The final game of the tournament, however, looked quite different from the first three. GW’s 12-11 win over Notre Dame College saw the Colonials trailing an opponent for the first time all season – down 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.

The Colonials pulled ahead in the third quarter, but the game came down to the wire as GW was forced to kill a power play to hold on to the one-point lead.

Reed saw the same team strength in the final game, but felt his team struggled to find a consistent rhythm.

“They did a good job of exploiting some of our weaknesses so we have to work on filling those holes a little bit,” he said. “We had a great transition game but when it came to our half court offense we were a little stagnant. We have to work on getting a better flow to complete the whole offensive package.”

GW will have a week of practice to prepare for the Princeton Invitational next weekend.