CAMBRIDGE, MA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team concluded their first day of the Harvard Invitational with a 1-1 record, losing to the host 11-5 before defeating Johns Hopkins 11-9.
Season Impact: The Sagehens are now 11-9 overall after Saturday's matches.
Harvard def. Pomona-Pitzer 11-5
Division I Harvard University had a solid defensive performance against the Sagehens, denying them from finding their rhythm on offense. The Sagehens battled hard, denying the Crimson from pulling the game out of reach. Jacob Niskey and Joseph Schafer co-led the Hens with two goals each while Keegan Coleman added one more. Daniel Diemer posted four saves and one steal between the pipes.
The Crimson got on board first less than a minute into the first period thanks to a goal from Bruno Snow. Jackson Enright doubled Harvard's lead with 4:27 left, but Coleman scored the Sagehens' first goal to cut the deficit 2-1. Nick Bunn managed to extend the Crimson's lead 3-1 on a buzzer-beater to end the period.
After going scoreless in the first three minutes of the second period, the Sagehens managed to cut the Crimsons' lead in half 4-2 thanks to a goal from Schafer. However, Harvard's offense came alive as they closed the half with four straight goals.
The Sagehens' defense managed to hold off the Crimsons' in the third period, limiting them to two goals. However, they were unfortunate to not find the net as Harvard led 9-2 after the third period.
Schafer opened up the scoring in the fourth period, finding the net just a minute in. After Grayson Judge responded back to extend the Crimsons' lead 10-3, Niskey tried to rally the Sagehens back with back-to-back goals with 3:32 and 1:49 left, respectively. However, it was not enough to to bring the Hens back as Harvard won the game 11-5.
Pomona-Pitzer def. Johns Hopkins 11-9
The Sagehens bounced back from their rough loss with a close victory 11-9 over Johns Hopkins on Saturday afternoon. The Sagehens outshot the Bluejays 32 to 24 and held them to only one goal on six power play opportunities. Adam Ward led the Sagehens with three goals and delivered one assist while Riley Mangan and Dylan Eliott had two goals each. Both Noah Sasaki and Adam Gross recorded one goal and two assists. Joseph Schafer followed up his two goal performance with four steals.
Ward opened up the scoring just 20 seconds into the game off an assist from Gross. The Jays responded with two straight goals, but the Hens tied the game 2-2 thanks to a goal from Sam Gorcey-Biblowitz.
The two teams were fairly quiet in the second period, as the Sagehens finally found the net with 3:59 remaining in the half thanks to a goal by Ward. After Ryan Masi tied it up for the Jays, Ward took back the lead with 3:15 remaining in the period as the Sagehens led 4-3 at the half.
Gross opened up the scoring in the third period thanks to a goal by Gross and Mangan followed with a power play goal to extend the lead 6-3. The two teams exchanged goals to close the period as the Hens held a 7-5 advantage to close the period.
Both offenses woke up in the final period as the two teams combined for eight goals. After Cade Curry scored his first goal of the game with 6:54 remaining, Johns Hopkins responded with two straight goals to cut the deficit to 8-7. With 1:59 remaining, Eliott broke out with two consecutive goals within a 33 second span to cushion the Hens' lead 10-7. The Jays tried to fight back but could not break through as the Sagehens closed out with a 11-9 victory.
Up Next: Pomona-Pitzer will finish the Harvard Invitational tomorrow with a match against Brown University at 8:45 a.m. PT and against MIT at 2:30 p.m. PT.
