NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Connecticut College men's water polo team returned to action for their second MPSF weekend, going 1-3 in four games at Wheaton.
GAME 1: Conn 27, Wheaton 9
Conn opened the weekend with a dominant victory over Wheaton on Friday night. Jeffrey Harrington (SanDiego , Calif.) tallied the first two goals of the quarter, before Wheaton got on the board at 5:26. The Camels answered with a 3-0 with goals from Harrington, Matthew Maischoss (Malibu, Calif.) and Zach Dixon (Wayne, Pa.). The Lyons responded ending the quarter on a 2-1 run to make it 6-3 after one. Conn took control in the second quarter, outscoring Wheaton 7-1. Seven different Camels scored in the frame, as Topher Cook (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Dixon, Harrington, Keegan Kosiba (Birmingham, Mich.), Thomas McDonough (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Carson Neidert (West Palm Beach, Fla.), and Sebastian Parilov (Brooklyn, N.Y.) all scoring once, as Conn led 13-4 at the break.
Conn's scoring onslaught continued over the final two quarters, as the Camels outscored the Lyons 14-5 over the final 16 minutes. Parilov notched two goals, while Cook, Harrington, Ethan Hipsky (Glastonbury, Conn.), Kosiba, and McDonough finding the back of the net in the third quarter as Conn led 20-6 heading to the fourth. Hipsky added three goals in the final frame, with Cook, Dixon, Harrington, and Kosiba adding the final tallies for the Camels, who earned the 27-9 win.
GAME 2: Austin 14, Conn 12
Austin opened game two with an early goal just 32 seconds in to take a 1-0. Conn answered back as Jesse Ellis (Fresno, Calif.), Harrington, and Hipsky all tallied one goal, as the Camels led 3-1 after the first. The Roos responded with the first three goals of the second quarter to move in front 4-3. The back-and-forth affair continued with Ellis and Neidert connecting to put Conn back in front 5-4. However, Austin ended the quarter on a 3-0 run to lead 7-5 at the break.
The run for the Roos continued to start the second half, as an early goal extended the lead to 8-5. However, the Camels stormed right back with three straight goals, with Harrington, McDonough, and Paul Podrebarac (Friendswood, Texas) all tallying once. Austin responded with the final two goals of the frame to lead 10-8 heading to the fourth. Conn opened the final frame with a goal each from Ellis and Neidert to even up the score at 10. Austin used back-to-back tallies to go back in front, before Ellis and Neidert scored again to tie the game at 12. The Roos however, notched the final two goals of the contest to earn the 14-12 win.
GAME 3: Augustana 14, Conn 12
Augustana opened up game three with the first five goals, before Harrington got the Camels on the board late in the opening quarter, as the Vikings led 5-1 after one. Augustana pushed the lead to 6-1, before Conn began cutting into the deficit, as Ellis scored twice with Cook and Harrington each adding in a goal to make it 6-5. The Vikings tallied the last goal of the quarter to lead 7-5 at the break.
McDonough got the lead to one early in the third quarter, but his goal was cancelled out by Stevan Rasic. Neidert tallied two straight goals to even the score at eight, before Rasic put the Vikings back in front 9-8. Conn answered with the final four goals of the quarter, as Ellis notched two, and Harrington and McDonough finding the net once to lead 12-9 heading to the fourth. However, Augustana scored all five goals in the final quarter to come away with the 14-12 win.
GAME 4: PSB 13, Conn 8
The first half was low scoring as the teams combined for just seven goals in the opening 16 minutes. Ellis opened the scoring just over a minute into the contest, before Ryan Carpico cancelled out his tally to knot the game at one after the first. McDonough put Conn in front midway through the second quarter, before Cook and Ryland McDowell for Penn State Behrend, evened each other as Conn led 3-2. However, the Lions notched the final two goals of the quarter to lead 4-3 at the break.
PSB opened the second half with five of the first six goals to take a 9-4 lead. Conn's lone goal came from Ellis before Harrington scored late in the quarter to make it 9-5 heading to the fourth. The Camels outscored the Lions 3-2 in the first six minutes of the final frame to cut the deficit to 11-8. However, PSB recorded the final two goals of the contest to earn the 13-8 victory.
Conn wraps up the regular season on Friday night as the Camels host Wheaton at 7:00 p.m. in Lott Natatorium for Senior Day.
