George Washington University Athletics
GW Men's Water Polo Set for CWPA Southern Division Championship
11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
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Nov. 6, 2014
WASHINGTON - The George Washington men's water polo team heads to Princeton, New Jersey, this weekend for the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) southern Division Championship. The three-day, 11-team event will take place from Nov. 7-9 at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool.
GW (9-11, 1-7 Southern) will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will take on No. 4 Johns Hopkins on Friday at 4:50 p.m. and No. 9 Salem International at 8:50 p.m. in pool play. The remainder of the weekend's schedule will be determined by Friday's results.The Colonials placed sixth at the 2013 Southern Division Championship and earned an at-large bid to the CWPA Championship, where they placed seventh.
GW is coming off a 10-9 loss at Navy on Saturday. Junior Bogdan Petkovic led the Colonials with three goals and junior goalkeeper Connor Dillon matched his career high with 15 saves.
Senior Rdivan Pehlivan is GW's leading scorer with 51 goals this season, while Petkovic and senior Brian Mojica are tied for second with 39 goals apiece. Petkovic has added a team-best 36 assists to lead the Colonials with 75 points on the year, and his 56 steals and 16 field blocks are also tops on the squad, while Mojica is second with 33 assists, 72 points and 23 steals. Freshman Pierce Deamer is the Colonials' fourth 30-goal scorer with 34 in his rookie campaign, and he paces the team with 41 ejections drawn.Dillon and sophomore Sander Profaci have split time in goal this season, combining to post a 10.63 goals-against average and .499 save percentage.
Johns Hopkins (10-9, 4-4 Southern) has dropped three of its last four contests, including a 17-10 loss at Navy on Saturday. Johnny Beal paces the Blue Jays with 36 goals, 26 assists and 62 points, followed closely by Langdon Froomer with 34 goals and 59 points. Erik Henrikson has played the majority of minutes in goal and boasts a .451 save percentage.Friday's contest will be the third of the season between GW and Johns Hopkins. The teams split a pair of regular-season matchups, with each winning on the road. The Colonials took a 13-11 decision in Baltimore on Oct. 22 behind hat tricks from Deamer, Mojica, Pehlivan and Petkovic. Eleven days earlier, the Blue Jays came away with a 15-13 victory at the Charles E. Smith Center Pool. Pehlivan scored four goals in that game while Petkovic and Deamer had three each. Petkovic has tallied 22 goals in nine career contests against Johns Hopkins.
Salem International (3-13, 2-4 Southern) has lost five in a row following a 21-11 loss to Gannon on Saturday. The Tigers are led offensively by Djordje Straverski's 72 goals and 84 points on the season, while goalkeeper Kristopher Arnold has recorded a .523 save percentage in the cage.GW defeated SIU, 20-5, on Sept. 13 at the Bison Invitational behind eight points (3g, 5a) from sophomore Dennis Gut, six points (2g, 4a) from freshman Noah McKinnie Braun and four goals from freshman Ryan Michalko. GW has outscored Salem International, 90-23, in the teams' last six meetings dating to the 2008 Southern Division Championship.
Complete ScheduleBracket A
1st Seed - Princeton
8th Seed - Gannon
Bracket B
2nd Seed - Navy
7th Seed - Mercyhurst
11th Seed - PSU-Behrend
Bracket C
3rd Seed - Bucknell
6th Seed - Washington & Jefferson
10th Seed - Monmouth
Bracket D
4th Seed - Johns Hopkins
5th Seed - George Washington
9th Seed - Salem International
Friday, Nov. 7
1 Princeton vs. Gannon - 3:30 p.m.
2 Johns Hopkins vs. George Washington - 4:50 p.m.
3 Navy vs. Mercyhurst - 6:10 p.m.
4 Bucknell vs. Washington & Jefferson - 7:30 p.m.
5 GW vs. Salem International - 8:50 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 8
6 Navy vs. Penn State-Behrend - 9 a.m.
7 Bucknell vs. Monmouth - 10:15 a.m.
8 JHU vs. Salem International - 11:30 a.m.
9 Mercyhurst vs. Penn State-Behrend - 12:45 p.m.
10 Washington & Jefferson vs. Monmouth - 2 p.m.
11 1st Bracket A vs. 1st Bracket D - 3:20 p.m.
12 1st Bracket B vs. 1st Bracket C - 4:40 p.m.
13 2nd Bracket D vs. 2nd Bracket A - 6 p.m.
14 2nd Bracket C vs. 2nd Bracket B - 7:20 p.m.
15 3rd Bracket C vs. 3rd Bracket B - 8:40 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 9
9th 3rd in Bracket D vs. Winner Game 15 - 9 a.m.
7th Loser Game 14 vs. Loser Game 13 - 10:20 a.m.
5th Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14 - 11:40 a.m.
3rd Loser Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11 - 1 p.m.
1st Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 - 2:20 p.m.
Loser of Game 15 is in 11th Place
