The Hopkins men’s water polo team finished second at the CWPA D-III Championship this past weekend in Washington, Pa. The tournament was hosted by Washington & Jefferson College. The Blue Jays, who lost against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the championship match, made their 23rd championship game appearance in 23 tournament appearances. It was also the 16th time they faced MIT in the finals, with Hopkins dropping to 10-6 in the matchups.
The top-seeded Jays started strong, prevailing over Penn State Behrend, as 12 different players tallied goals. In just 42 seconds, junior Kevin Yee opened the scoring. After goals from senior co-captain Johnny Beal and sophomore Bret Pinsker and a string of three goals in the last 53 seconds of the quarter, the Jays led 6-0.
Senior co-captain Wes Hopkins opened the scoring in the second quarter, bringing the lead to 7-0, before Penn State Behrend scored its first goal.
The Jays then went on another scoring streak, finishing the third quarter with a 16-1 lead. In the fourth quarter, Penn State Behrend put together its own streak, outscoring Hopkins 4-1, but the Jays ultimately won 17-5.
Freshman Conor Hehir led the team with a career-best five points (two goals, three assists), while teammates Hopkins and Matt Fraser added another four points (two goals, two assists) each. In goal, junior Erik Henrikson had six saves and allowed only one goal in the first half. His second half substitute, freshman John Wilson, finished with a career-best seven saves.
In its second match of the day, Hopkins beat Connecticut College 19-9. Beal, Yee and junior Langdon Froomer led the team in scoring with a hat trick each, while Fraser led the team in assists with five. Hopkins led 3-1 at the end of the first quarter, and outscored the Camels 6-2 in the second quarter, pushing its lead to 9-3 by the end of the first half.
Beal led the team with seven points (three goals, four assists), while Fraser added six (one goal, five assists). Henrikson made 11 saves in the first three quarters, and Wilson made two saves in the last period.
In a back-and-forth thriller of a championship game, MIT seized the lead with a five meter goal in the first 14 seconds of play. Froomer then equalized with the Jays’ first goal at the 7:12 mark. Hopkins took the lead for a short period of time later in the first quarter but would finish the quarter down 5-4. Then, early in the second quarter, goals from Fraser and Hopkins gave the Jays a 6-5 lead. However, early in the third quarter, MIT scored three goals, bringing the score to 9-6 in its favor. The teams would then trade goals yet again, ending the quarter with MIT leading 11-8. The fourth quarter was largely equal as well, with MIT outscoring Hopkins 3-2, and winning the championship 14-10.
In the championship game, Froomer and Hopkins led the Jays in scoring with a hat trick each. Fraser added another three points (two goals, one assist). Yee and Davidson each had three steals, and Davidson added three blocks as well. Beal was named the tournament MVP, marking the 14th time a Jay has earned the honor. Henrikson and Hopkins earned First Team All-Tournament Honors.
The Jays are back in action on Oct. 25 as they host Navy at 2 p.m.
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