George Washington University
No. 15 Loyola Marymount
Water Polo Finishes West Coast Trip with Pair of Wins on Saturday
9/16/2023 7:11:00 PM | Water Polo
LA VERNE, Calif. - GW men's water polo wrapped up its West Coast trip on a high note, winning both of Saturday's games and coming home with a 2-1 record on the trip. GW fell to Loyola Marymount, 9-7, on Friday evening, before bouncing back on Saturday with a 15-8 win over La Verne and a 17-15 win over Concordia Irvine. The Buff and Blue moved to 4-4 on the season ahead of the start of MAWPC action next weekend.
LMU 9, GW 7
The Revolutionaries gave LMU just about as much as they could handle on Friday night in Los Angeles, but it wasn't quite enough to bring down the No. 15 team in the country, as LMU pulled out the win in a tight 9-7 battle.
Senior Viktor Jovanovic led the way for the Revolutionaries with four goals, while junior Andrija Sekulic followed with two goals. Goalkeeper Luca Castorina did well to keep GW close, making a season-high 18 saves and scoring the first goal of his collegiate career when he caught LMU's goalkeeper too far out of the net with a full-pool shot in the third quarter.
Helped by a fourth-quarter hat trick from Jovanovic, GW got within two goals of the Lions late in the fourth period, but time ran out on the Revolutionaries before they could close the gap.
GW 15, La Verne 8
Seven different Revolutionaries found the back of the net as the Buff and Blue picked up their first win on the West Coast, besting La Verne by a final of 15-8.
The sides went back and forth trading goals in the first half, resulting in a 6-4 GW lead at halftime. GW started to pull away in the second half, finishing the third quarter up 13-6 after out-pacing its entire first-half output with seven goals in just the third frame.
Jovanovic led GW's offensive efforts, scoring four times for the second-consecutive game. Alec Posluszny got on the board for the first time in his Buff and Blue career with two goals, while Leo Lueddemann, Kai De Orbeta, Andrija Sekulic and Kalan Smith each had two goals.
GW 17, Concordia 15
Both offenses settled in early in the last game of the weekend, which saw 11 total goals in the first frame - six from GW and five from Concordia Irvine. The game stayed close at halftime as the defenses started to figure each other out - GW led 9-7 at the break.
The teams traded goals and the match stayed close for the majority of the second half, but GW maintained its lead the entire half. The Buff and Blue led by as many as three goals in the fourth quarter, before closing the game with a 17-15 victory.
Veteran Mateus Stellet paced GW with seven goals. Jovanovic had four goals, finishing with four goals in all three games of the trip. Castornia made 17 saves in the win.
UP NEXT
GW returns to the DMV for the start of MAWPC play next weekend. The Revolutionaries will host Bucknell (2 p.m.) at the Charles E. Smith Center on Saturday, before traveling to Baltimore for a bout with Johns Hopkins on Sunday at 11 a.m.
