NEW LONDON, Ct. – The Penn State Behrend men's water polo team battle in two tough games in the CWPA Division III Championships Saturday. The fell 18-8 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the 10-8 to Washington & Jefferson.
Troy Valkusky (Drifton, PA/Hazleton) and Victor Nguyen (San Jose, CA/Evergreen Valley) led the way for the Lions scoring against MIT, tallying two goals each.
After falling behind 9-0 in the first two quarters, Nguyen scored with just under a minute left before the half to get Behrend on the board.
The Lions fought to try and claw away at the Engineers' lead, but the deficit was too large to surpass. Grant Garcia (Kingsburg, CA/Kingsburg), Edwin Doo (Placentia, CA/Valencia), Ty Elder (Brentwood, CA/Heritage) and Cameron Makin (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) all scored goals during the game.
Later in the afternoon, Behrend took on Washington and Jefferson for the third time this season. This 10-8 match was the closest game yet, following a seven and five goal defeat.
The Presidents started on a 3-1 run in the first quarter to give themselves the advantage on the scoreboard. The two teams then traded goals early in the second quarter to set up a 4-2 Washington & Jefferson lead headed into the third.
Garcia scored three goals and led the Lions on a 3-0 run to during the third quarter to take a 5-4 advantage. The Presidents scored the next two goals to once again take a one goal lead.
Garcia stayed hot and tallied the next two goals to give the game its fourth lead change. Behrend's 7-6 lead would not hold up for long, however. Washington & Jefferson scored the game's next four goals and took a three-goal lead.
Makin cut the deficit to two with 52 seconds left to try and spark a late surge by the Lions. They were unable to find the back of the net in the remaining seconds to close the gap. Garcia ended with a season-high six goals while Nguyen and Makin each added one.
Behrend takes on Monmouth tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. to close out the CWPA Division III Championships.
