Men's Water Polo Set for Senior Celebration

Saturday, November 9

Washington, DC

11:00 AM

George Washington University

Fordham

11/7/2019 9:25:00 AM | Water Polo

Colonials will honor six student-athletes Saturday at Smith Center Pool

GW men's water polo closes out the regular season with three games over two days, highlighted by a Senior Day doubleheader at Smith Center Pool.

The 19th-ranked Colonials host No. 16 Fordham (11 a.m.) and Wagner (5 p.m.) on Saturday as part of Home Opener Weekend in Foggy Bottom. They are set to honor six graduating student-athletes - Jordan Blosser, Atakan Destici, Heath Faulkner, Isher Gill, Andrew Mavis and Matt Taylor - and unveil their 2018 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship banner prior to the opener vs. the Rams.

On Sunday, the Buff and Blue will conclude the regular season with a trip to face No. 14 Bucknell in a 4 p.m. start at Kinney Natatorium.

LAST TIME OUT: GW landed a pair of MAWPC wins last weekend at The St. James. The Colonials cruised past Johns Hopkins, 20-12, on Saturday night before coming from behind to beat Navy, 17-14, in overtime.

Blosser led the way vs. the Blue Jays with four goals, while Nick Schroeder chipped in three goals and three assists. Destici's four goals and three assists set the pace vs. the Midshipmen with Gabriele Simonti also recording four scores in the victory.

Taylor piled up 25 saves on the weekend to pick up two more wins between the pipes.

SENIOR SALUTE: This decorated group of seniors has combined for 638 collegiate goals with Mavis (259) and Destici (242) both ranking among GW's top five scorers all-time.

A two-time All-American, Destici became GW's career leader in assists last season and has added 24 more this season to push his total to 218. The senior from Turkey has also gotten it done defensively, ranking among the program's all-time top five in steals (208) and field blocks (52).

In addition to ranking fourth on the program's scoring list, Mavis is also the all-time leader in ejections drawn with 247. The two-time All-American currently sits second on the squad this season with 56 goals.

Taylor ranks fourth in program history with 745 saves, including 283 this fall. The netminder from New Zealand has stopped 54 percent of shots he's faced in his career.

Blosser has already set career highs this season with 41 goals and 29 ejections drawn. The California native has converted 51 percent of his shots en route to 111 career goals.

A former junior college All-American, Faulkner has tallied 26 points over his two seasons in Buff and Blue, while Gill has amassed 25 points over his three seasons, plus he's already set single-season personal bests this fall in assists, steals and field blocks.

STANDINGS CHECK: The top of the MAWPC standings remain crowded coming down the stretch with Bucknell (8-1), GW (7-2), Navy (6-3) and Fordham (5-2) in contention for the top seed in the conference tournament, which will be held Nov. 22-24 at Bucknell.

GW and Navy close the regular season this weekend, while Bucknell and Fordham will wrap up next weekend to finalize the MAWPC standings.

SCOUTING FORDHAM: The Rams downed Iona, 12-8, in non-conference action on Wednesday to improve to 18-5 on the season.

GW rallied to take down Fordham, 9-8, on Sept. 28 in New York with Andras Levai scoring the game's final four goals to complete the comeback.

SCOUTING WAGNER: The Seahawks beat La Salle, 25-10, last Friday to move to 5-20 overall and 3-6 in MAWPC play.

A four-goal effort from Mavis highlighted GW's 14-8 win at Wagner in the second game of the Sept. 28 doubleheader.

SCOUTING BUCKNELL: The Bison sit at 17-7 overall and 8-1 in MAWPC action after sweeping La Salle and Johns Hopkins last weekend.

Bucknell collected a 13-8 win over GW in the first meeting at The St. James on Oct. 13.

UP NEXT: GW will need three wins over as many days at Bucknell to secure a third straight MAWPC title with the champion crowned in a 1:30 p.m. start on Nov. 24. The winner of the conference tournament advances to NCAA play the following weekend.