NEW LONDON, Conn.--Sophomore Stephan Cress (pictured, Rockford, Mich.) exploded with five goals, one assist and one steal to lead the Connecticut College men's water polo team (1-10) to its first win of the season, a 12-8 triumph over Monmouth College in the first round of the Collegiate Water Polo Association Division III Championship hosted by the Camels in Lott Natatorium Saturday.
Sophomore Dylan Pinckert (Long Beach, Calif.) sandwiched a pair of scores around an assist for the victors. Daniel Seo (Lakewood, Calif.) had one goal, one assist and one steal for the hosts. Junior Aiden Kelso (Washington, D.C.) scored one goal while adding a pair of field blocks.
Henry McMillan (New York, N.Y.) collected a team-best four steals and had one goal and one field block. Junior Karan Das-Grande (Menlo Park, Calif.) scored one goal and had one steal. William Bogle V (Weston, Mass.) contributed with a goal.
Isaih Porter (La Jolla, Calif.) finished with one assist, one steal and one field block. Paul MacMullin (Haverhill, Mass.) added one assist and one steal for the Camels.
Jake Smith (Baltimore, Md.) had one assist. Chase Leniak (Barrington, Ill.) grabbed one steal and Alec Ifshin recorded one field block.
Senior net-minder Daniel Albers (Aloha, Ore.) made 12 saves, five of which occurred on power plays. He also had two assists and a pair of steals.
In the second round of action, the Camels dropped a 21-1 decision to top seeded Johns Hopkins University.
Cress accounted for the lone tally of the match for the hosts, his team-leading 14th score of the season. Pinckert, Lesniak, Smith, Seo and McMillan all had one steal. Porter and Jake Pescatore (New Haven, Conn.) had one field block each.
Albers made three saves in the start. Matthew Wagman (Needham, Mass.) stopped four shots in relief duty.
The Camels will host Washington & Jefferson College tomorrow morning at 10:20 a.m. with a third place finish in the Championship on the line.
