Water Polo (9-10) secured two wins and two losses in the Harvard Invitational held at Brown University Saturday and at Harvard University Sunday.
The Revolutionaries split the weekend tournament record with wins against Iona and UC Merced and losses against No. 18 Harvard and No. 20 Brown. The Revs were able to showcase their offense against smaller water programs but failed to do so against high-ranked Ivy League universities.
Through the tournament, big offense from graduate student utility Mateus Stellet and tough defense from senior goalkeeper Luca Castorina aided the Revolutionaries toward their two victories. Stellet led the Revs’ scoring front with a total of 15 goals in the Invitational and Castorina recorded a season-low of six allowed goals against Iona.
GW v. Brown (Match 1):
The Revolutionaries started the Invitational with a game against Brown (12-4) with a 13-9 loss as they struggled to defend the Bears’ offense and break through their defense.
The Bears took a 4-2 early lead in the first quarter, which paced the scoring for the rest of the game. By halftime, they had fallen behind 6-3. The Revolutionaries struggled to close the gap against the Bears’ strong defense.
In the third quarter, the Bears went on a 5-1 run, which helped them secure the win as the Revs could not respond to the onslaught of goals, ending the quarter 11-4. In the fourth quarter, the Revs scored five goals, but it was ultimately too late for them to turn around the game. The Bears took the win with a final score of 13-9.
Stellet ended the match with four goals and a season-high eight exclusions. Junior center Leo Lueddemann followed with two goals and junior center Andrija Sekulic had one goal and three assists.
GW v. Iona (Match 2):
Later in the afternoon, The Revolutionaries continued onto their second game, seeking to defeat Iona (9-11) and going on to earn a 10-6 win.
The Revs started the game with a 2-0 lead in the first quarter and maintained the lead through halftime with a score of 6-4 as the Gaels were unable to overcome the Revs’ defense. The Revs maintained the tight two-point lead against the Gaels as both teams fired a goal in the third quarter.
The Gaels were able to cut the lead to one with a 7-6 going into the fourth quarter, fighting to overtake the Revs’ lead. However, the Revs responded by scoring three consecutive goals that crushed any Iona hopes of winning the game. The Revs scored one final goal with two minutes left in the match, giving them a four-goal lead as they finished it out with a final score of 10-6.
Senior center Viktor Jovanovic collected five goals, two assists and two steals. Castorina stood out with his performance by letting through a season-low of six goals.
GW v. Harvard (Match 3):
On Sunday, the Revolutionaries faced off against their highest-ranked competitor of the year, No. 18 Harvard Crimson (14-3), losing the match 18-8. The Revolutionaries had previously faced the Crimson on Sept. 9, when they lost 16-9.
After the Crimson opened with the first goal, the Revs pushed back with three goals of their own, earning a 3-1 lead in the first quarter. But the Crimson responded by nailing seven consecutive shots into the goal.
GW trailed Harvard 10-6 going into the second half. The Revs collected one goal in the third quarter, but the Crimson out-performed the Revolutionaries to close out the third quarter, making the score 10-7. The fourth quarter was more of the same as the undefeated Crimson finished off the dawdling Revs with a final score of 18-8, collecting their second win against GW this season.
Stellet scored six out of eight total goals, tallying the second-most amount of goals by a singular player in a game this season. Jovanovic aided Stellet with three assists.
GW v. UC Merced (Match 4):
The Revolutionaries’ final match of the weekend was against the UC Merced Bobcats (12-15). The Revs went out with a bang, taking a win home against the Bobcats with a final score of 15-7.
It was a battle between the Bobcats and the Revolutionaries. In the first quarter, the Revs took the lead, making the score 4-1. The Revolutionaries kept up the effort in the second quarter and expanded their lead to 9-2 at the half, with a seven-goal lead.
By the third quarter, the Bobcats attempted to close the gap, bringing the score 10-5. But the Revolutionaries proceeded to hit the fourth quarter running, scoring an additional two points in the fourth quarter and taking home the victory.
Water Polo will travel to New York City on Oct. 28 to compete against Fordham and Wagner.
