W. Polo falls to M.I.T. in finals

The Johns Hopkins Water Polo team cruised through the opening rounds of the Division III Eastern Water Polo Championships this past weekend, soundly beating its first three opponents before falling to M.I.T. in the finals.

On Saturday, the Blue Jays steamrolled their competition. In their first match, they faced PSU-Behrend, a team they nearly shut out by a score of 21-1. Their next victim was Washington & Jefferson. Although W&J was able to score more goals than PSU, but their efforts were futile. Hopkins pummeled them as well, 22-9. Prior to this weekend, the Blue Jays had never scored more than 17 goals in one game. Saturday, they did it twice.

Hopkins struck early and often, as they trounced the Penn State Nittany Lions and jumped out to an insurmountable 11-1 lead after just one quarter. Most of this damage was inflicted by freshman driver David Strickland who scored seven of the 11 first-quarter goals. He would later add one more tally to set a Hopkins freshman record for goals scored in a game. Sophomore driver Billy Irvine, senior driver Dan Herr, senior utility Geoff McCann and junior driver Mac Sanford all found the back of the net before the end of the first period.

With the game already well in hand, the Jays cruised the rest of the way. Hopkins would go on to score four more goals before halftime, bringing the score to 15-1. Sophomore driver Win Bates, junior driver Dan Stillman, Sanford and freshman driver Ryan McCormack all added one score of their own.

Coming into the third quarter, Hopkins continued its dominance, holding the Penn State offense in check while continuing to bulwark the lead. Sanford, Strickland and senior driver Parker Emmott scored four goals between them in the third quarter, and Stillman and Sanford each scored again to close out the game.

This enormous offensive outburst made it easy for senior goalie Craig Smith who made just two saves. The ball was kept on the other side of the pool, keeping constant pressure on the Lion goalie.

Hopkins kept up the intensity and proceeded to dominate Washington and Jefferson, rolling with the momentum built up in the victory over PSU-Behrend.

Much like the first game, Hopkins got off to a quick start, scoring seven goals to Washington & Jeffersons' two in the first quarter. Sanford had two of his own, while junior driver James Singleton, McCann, Bates, Stillman and junior driver Brian Mead each added one score apiece.

However, W&J was still within striking distance, holding the Jays to two goals in the second quarter, while adding one of their own. Mead accounted for both of the Hopkins goals.

The third quarter would change all that. Hopkins unleashed a scoring barrage with Singleton scoring two, and Irvine, Mead, Stillman, Bates and McCann each scoring one. At the end of the third quarter, the score stood at16-5, well out of the reach of a W&J comeback.

Putting an exclamation point on the victory, Strickland, Sanford and junior driver Parker Wilson scored six goals between them in the final quarter to solidify the victory.

Smith did not have as easy a time this game; however, he still played a solid game, making eight saves to preserve the win.

On Sunday, the Blue Jays played Connecticut College to determine who would play in the finals. It wasn't even close, as Hopkins had their first shut out of the season, winning 14-0. Smith, with plenty of help from the offense, was spectacular, stopping every one of Connecticut's shots.

"There aren't many good teams in Division III, so we basically play a Division I schedule," said junior driver Dan Stillman. "This makes the games against Division III opponents that much easier."

However, the first three games would mean nothing unless they won in the finals, where Hopkins faced their Division III rival, M.I.T. This match proved to be much more difficult, as the Hopkins offense stalled and was held to single digits. The defense and goalkeeping of Smith kept the game close. Unfortunately, M.I.T came out on top, downing the Blue Jays 6-5.

"It was a shame that we lost to M.I.T; we had beaten them the past two years," said Stillman.

Despite the loss, the Blue Jays remain upbeat as the Division III Eastern Championship was just a warm-up for the Southern Division Championships. Their first match in the upcoming championships is their old rival, Bucknell who they must beat to qualify for the Eastern Championships.