George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
No. 15 California Baptist
Water Polo to Challenge California Baptist, Harvard, Chapman at Princeton Invitational
9/7/2023 3:54:00 PM | Water Polo
WASHINGTON - A week after opening the 2023 season at the Princeton Mini, the George Washington men's water polo team returns to Princeton, N.J., for the Princeton Invitational, where the Buff and Blue will go up against No. 15 California Baptist (8:00 a.m.) and No. 18 Harvard (2 p.m.) on Saturday, and No. 4 (D-III) Chapman (2:00 p.m.) on Sunday.
EARLY CONTRIBUTORS
Senior Viktor Jovanovic leads the Buff and Blue through their first two games with six points (5 goals, 1 assist), while junior Leo Lueddemann follows closely behind with four points (3 goals, 1 assist). Senior goalkeeper Luca Castorina has a save percentage just north of 50 percent and also collected an assist against LIU last weekend.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
California Baptist kicked off the season at 1-3 after playing four games against opponents in the top-11. The Lancers lost to No. 3 USC, No. 11 UC Irvine and No. 4 Stanford, before picking up a narrow 11-10 win against No. 7 UC Santa Barbara to finish the opening weekend. Senior goalkeeper Trevor Benge recorded a career-high 16 saves in the Lancers win over UCSB.
Harvard is 3-1 to begin the year after beating Bucknell, Wagner and McKendree, and falling to No. 11 Pepperdine. Sophomore James Rozolis-Hill scored 17 goals for the Crimson on opening weekend, while first-year Jack Burghardt followed suit with 10 goals. First-year goalkeeper Oliver Price recorded 30 saves in the Crimson's first four games.
Chapman has only played one game in 2023 - a 12-6 win over Orange Coast last Saturday. Last season, the Panthers went 11-14, including a 4-6 mark in the SCIAC.
LOOKING AHEAD
GW hits the West Coast next weekend for three games in the Los Angeles area. GW will face Loyola Marymount on Friday, Sept. 15 (9 p.m. ET), before going up against La Verne (12 p.m. ET) and Concordia University Irvine (3 p.m. ET) on Saturday, Sept. 16.
