CAMBRIDGE, Ma - The Penn State Behrend men's water polo team fell to Connecticut College 12-9 in the third place game of the CWPA Division III Championship on Sunday morning.
The Lions (4-9) battled the Camels (5-10) in an evenly matched first and second period. It wasn't until the midway through the second where Connecticut opened up a three goal-scoring run that opened the game.
Behrend got off to a quick start when Greg Kinzler (Plum, PA/Agra Charter Cyber School) and Troy Valkusky (Drifton, PA/Hazleton) each scored goals to give the Lions a 2-0 lead just two minutes into the game. The Camels answered by adding a pair a goals to close out the first quarter, evening the score.
It was a tight match through majority of second with both sides trading a couple goals to keep the score at 4-all. Connecticut would go on to score four unanswered goals at the end of the second and the beginning minutes of the third. It wasn't until Kinzler tallied his second goal of the game to conclude the scoring streak for the Hawks, making the score 8-5.
The Lions came to life in the fourth quarter, outscoring Connecticut 4-1 in the quarter, but the late efforts seemed to have come too late in the game. Grant Garcia (Kingsburg, CA/Kingsburg) recorded four drawn kickouts and three assists in the match.
Kinzler would finish the game with three goals and two field blocks while Valkusky tallied two goals and two steals. Freshman goalkeeper Matt Olimski (San Diego, CA/Otay Ranch) had another strong performance, notching 16 saves, two steals, and an assist.
Garcia and Kyle Frerichs (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) were both named to the All-Tournament Second Team for their performances over the weekend. Garcia notched seven assists, four goals, four drawn kickouts, and three steals on the weekend. Frerichs tallied six goals and two assists, including a game-high four goals against Monmouth.
The Lions are back in action on Friday when they take on Iona for a 6 p.m. start