George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
LIU
Water Polo Embarks on 40th Season at Princeton Mini
9/1/2023 10:02:00 AM | Water Polo
WASHINGTON - The 40th season of GW men's water polo begins this weekend, as RV GW travels to Princeton, N.J., to take on Long Island (LIU) and No. 8 Princeton in Saturday's Princeton Mini. The Revolutionaries will open the 2023 season at 2 p.m. against LIU, followed by a battle with the hosts, Princeton, at 6 p.m., which will be streamed on ESPN+.
BUILDING OFF LAST YEAR
GW will look to build upon its successes from the 2022 season, which included a program-best, 10-game winning streak and a 23-7 overall record. GW was 14-2 in the MAWPC last year and 5-1 when defending The District.
Back from the 2022 season and looking to make an impact is senior Luca Castorina, who is set to embark on his third season as the Buff and Blue's main goalkeeper. Castorina enters the 2023 season with a career .528 save percentage and is coming off a career-high 26 assists in 2022.
Another Revolutionary to look out for this season is junior Andrija Sekulic, who has finished third in points for GW two years in a row. Sekulic registered 55 goals and 38 assists last season, which included a career-high, 10-point game vs. Fresno Pacific.
Viktor Jovanovic is entering his fourth season with the Buff and Blue and is doing so coming off his most productive season. Jovanovic set career highs in points (63), goals (41), assists (22) and steals (23) in 2022.
NEW TO THE BUFF AND BLUE
The Revolutionaires' roster features four newcomers for the 2023 season: Kai De Orbeta, Patrick McCann, Karim Nasr and Alec Posluszny are all first-years who will represent the Buff and Blue for the first time this weekend.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
In just its second year of existence, LIU enters the 2023 season unranked after finishing its inaugural season with a 2-17 mark. After playing independent of a conference in 2022, the Sharks were admitted into the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) for the 2023 season, joining Brown, Connecticut College, Harvard, Iona, MIT and Princeton.
Princeton checked in at No. 8 in the CWPA Preseason Poll after reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals last season. The Tigers went 27 - 6 and 10-0 in the NWPC en route to an NCAA Tournament berth and quarterfinal appearance, where they lost 11-8 to USC.
Princeton returns four of its top-five goal scorers from 2022: Roko Pozaric (62 goals), Yurian Quinones (39 goals), George Caras (36 goals) and Vladan Mitrovic (32 goals). West Temkin, who had a 0.537 save percentage and 14-2 record in 2022, is the Tigers' most experienced goalkeeper and is eyeing to be Princeton's No. 1 option in net this season.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Revolutionaries return to Princeton next weekend for the Princeton Invitational, where they will take on California Baptist (8 a.m.) and Harvard (2 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 9, before wrapping the weekend against Chapman (2 p.m.) on Sunday, Sept. 10.
