The GW water polo team lost all four matches against some of the toughest northern division teams at the North/South Invitational at Princeton University last weekend.
Three of the four teams that GW faced are nationally ranked, including No. 13 Massachusetts, No. 15 Queens College and No 17 Harvard University. Any confidence the Colonials may have gained from a strong performance against Princeton University two weeks ago at the Smith Center may have been destroyed after being outscored a combined 49 to 19 for all matches.
GW missed its last chance to salvage a win this weekend by losing to Harvard 13-5 Sunday. Five different Colonials scored goals in the effort.
The Colonials lost 9-4 to Iona College earlier in the day. GW was originally scheduled to play Brown University, but there was a last-minute change.
The Colonials were unable to get any offense going in their first match, a 14-3 loss to Massachusetts. Players were unable to get on the scoreboard until the third period, when GW’s Kevin Norman scored two and Josh Gimpelson added a third.
While the defense is usually the strongest part of the Colonials game, it was lacking against UMass. The Minutemen scored five goals in the first period, and nine different Minutemen had scored before the end of the game. UMass went into halftime with an 8-0 lead.
By the third period, the Colonials attempted to retaliate by scoring two goals, while allowing UMass only one. But the minutemen’s lead proved too great as GW was able to score only one more goal.
In the team’s second match of the day, No. 15 Queens College built on an early 7-0 lead and defeated GW 13-7. GW was unable to answer any of the seven goals Queens scored in the first period.
Despite the scoreless first quarter, GW’s offensive attempted a rally and outscored its opponent for the remainder of the game. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Colonials only trailed by a mere three goals with the score 10-7.
But Queens secured its victory with three more goals and a 13-7 victory. The win helped Queens in the standings, knotting the team in a first-place tie with UMass in the Northern Division.
Kevin Norman and Spencer Hugret were the big scorers against Queens, coming up with five of GW’s seven goals.
The Colonials travel to Baltimore for Friday’s match against Johns Hopkins University, a team GW has yet to play this season.
