ERIE, Pa. – The Connecticut College men's water polo team split a pair of matches at the 2022 CWPA DIII Eastern Championship on Saturday at the Hallman Aquatics Center.

The sixth-seeded Camels opened the tournament with a 20-9 loss to third-seeded Augustana College. Later in the day, Conn rebounded for an 18-12 victory over seventh-seeded Penn State University-Behrend in the consolation round. 

Christian Jacobsen (North Palm Beach, Fla.) and Sam Guy (Portland, Ore.) each scored four goals apiece to lead Conn in the win over PSU. Jacobsen also netted a hat trick in the first game and leads the Camels with seven goals in the tournament.

The Camels (2-9 overall) will next face fifth-seeded Washington & Jefferson College on Sunday at 9:20 a.m. at the CWPA DIII Eastern Championship.

Game 1 – Augustana 20, Conn College 9

Augustana scored the first four goals of the match and led 5-1 after the opening quarter. Guy put the Camels on the scoreboard with 2:18 left in the period, and Conn went on to add three more tallies before the halftime intermission. However, Augustana led 11-4 at the break as JP Sutton, Colin McDowell and Joseph Addison each supplied a pair of goals in the half.

Jacobsen heated up in the third quarter and scored a pair of goals to complete his hat trick. The Camels scored four goals in the period but still trailed 16-8 heading into the final 8:00.

McDowell netted his final two goals in the fourth quarter for Augustana, giving him a match-high five in the contest. Oskar Bannister added four scores as the Vikings moved on to face second-seeded Johns Hopkins in the winner's bracket.

Game 2 – Conn College 18, Penn State Behrend 12

The Camels never trailed en route to their second victory over the Nittany Lions this season. Both Guy and Jacobsen scored in the opening minutes of the match to give the Camels an early 2-0 advantage.

The two sides traded goals for the remainder of the first, though back-to-back tallies by Nelson and Grant Archer (Miami, Fla.) opened up a 6-3 Conn lead by the end of the period. Jacobsen and Chase Fichtner (New Canaan, Conn.) added goals to start the second quarter, widening the margin to five. Guy then kept the pressure on with consecutive scores, and the Camels closed the half with goals from Matthew Maischoss (Malibu, Calif.) and Carson Neidert (West Palm Beach, Fla.) to lead 14-5 at the break.

Jacobsen added his final two goals in the third quarter, and Archer and Fichtner each added a score in the fourth as the Camels wrapped up the win. Jack Holl kept PSU in the game with four fourth-quarter goals, finishing with a match-high six by the final whistle.