ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's water polo team dropped two matches on Saturday. Gannon handed the Lions a 21-9 loss while Washington & Jefferson won a 9-8 thriller.
In the first match at Gannon, the Golden Knights offense was too much for Behrend. The Lions (0-5) got on the board first with a goal under a minute into the contest. Gannon came back to score four straight goals by four different players to take control.
Ali Khan (Lake Zurich, IL/Stevenson) led the way for Lions with a hat trick while Kody Veit (Harleysville, PA/Souderton) scored twice. Junior goalkeeper Hunter Backenstose (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown East) recorded 10 saves for Behrend in net.
In the night cap, Washington & Jefferson's lone fourth period goal was just enough to secure the victory.
Jake Salsgiver (Long Beach, CA/Wilson Classical) put the Lions on the board first. The Presidents came back with three straight goals for a 3-1 advantage. Behrend would soon answer as Khan dished the ball to Wes Atkinson (Camarillo, CA/Rio Mesa) who found the back of the net to cut the lead in half. Nic Pabich (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest) netted a goal to knot the score at 3-all. With just nine seconds remaining in the opening period, Washington & Jefferson scored to take a 4-3 lead.
Down 4-3 to start the second period, the Presidents scored in the first minute to increase their lead. The Lions would come back with three unanswered goals by Veit, Khan, and Atkinson to take a 6-5 half time lead.
Behrend won the opening swim-off to start the second half. As the Lions offense set up, Salsgiver fired a shot. The Washington & Jefferson goalie saved the attempt and led a long outlet pass to Joey Weiland who beat the defense to tie the game up. The Presidents would go on to score two more goals in the third period as their defense shut out Behrend, taking an 8-6 lead into the final period.
As the fourth period moved on, the defenses dominated for the first three minutes. Washington & Jefferson would net a backhand goal for what would be the game winner. Matthew Johnson (Houston, TX/Cypress Falls) and Jake DesRoches (Fairfax, VA/WT Woodson) would tally two goals for the Lions to cut the lead to 9-8. With five seconds remaining, Khan fired a shot that missed just high.
Behrend will be back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. to face Mercyhurst.
