CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Penn State Behrend men's water polo team competed at the Division III Eastern Championships on Saturday. The Lions dropped three games, falling to Johns Hopkins 23-4, Connecticut College 11-7, and Washington and Jefferson, 14-9.
In the opening game, Johns Hopkins' offense was too much for Behrend to overcome.
The Blue Jays scored seven first quarter goals to take all the momentum and never looked back. The Lions netted two goals in the opening quarter but only scored once in the third and fourth quarters.
Ali Khan (Lake Zurich, IL/Stevenson) led Behrend with two goals. Wes Atkinson (Camarillo, CA/Rio Mesa) and Kody Veit (Harleysville, PA/Souderton) each contributed one goal.
The Lions played their second game of the day against Connecticut College.
After the first quarter, the two teams were tied, but a big second quarter propelled the Camels to the victory. Connecticut College outscored Behrend 4-1 in the second quarter and 6-5 in the second half.
Khan netted four more goals in game two with Veit, Ted Dean (Ramona, CA/Ramona), and Victor Nguyen (San Jose, CA/Evergreen Valley) each adding one.
In their final game of the day, the Lions fell behind 4-0 after the first quarter and could not catch the Presidents. After finding themselves in a 4-0 hole early, Behrend answered with nine goals in the final three quarts but it was not enough.
Veit led the offense with the hat trick. Hunter Backenstose (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown East) chipped in two goals with Dean, Nguyen, Jake DesRoches (Fairfax, VA/WT Woodson), and Matthew Johnson (Houston, TX/Cypress Falls) all scoring once.
Ty Elder (Brentwood, CA/Heritage) made 17 saves in two games between the pipes. Brendann Rosa (North Miami, FL/Hialeah) stopped nine shots in game two.
The Lions will be back in the water on October 28th at Notre Dame College. Game time is set for 12 p.m.