Men’s Water Polo Notches Double-Overtime Win Over W&J To Cap Off Season-Opening Invite

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's water polo team finished with four wins to begin the season at the Washington & Jefferson Invitational, defeating the host Presidents and three club teams.

Match One
Score: Penn State Behrend 14, Yale Club 9

Key Moments:

* 10 different Lions were able to find the back of the net against the Bulldogs
* Evan Blasky (Rockford, MI/Rockford), Will Aikens (La Grange Park, IL/Lyons Township), Nick Thompson (Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville), and Connor Bradley (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen) each scored in the first quarter
* Other goal scorers were Dylan Hayslip (Flower Mound, TX/Marcus), Robert Bakh (Issaquah, WA/Gibson EK), Freddy Browarski (Austin, TX/Westwood), Ian Partida Garcia (Ontario, CA/Ontario), Karol Nowak (Barrington, IL/Barrington), and Leo Nikolic (Bethesda, MD/Walt Whitman)
* Thompson netted a team-high three goals, followed by Aiken's and Nowak's two scores
* Freshman Atticus Bowman (Albuquerque, NM/Volcano Vista) led Behrend with four assists, while Adrian Tolczyk (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) dished out three assists in the Lions opening contest
* On the defensive end, Hayslip tallied a team-high five steals
* In net, Leyton Vrono (Murrieta, CA/Murrieta Valley) (eight saves) and Ethan Friedman (Valley Center, CA/Valley Center) (four saves) combined to make 12 saves

Match Two
Score: Penn State Behrend 20, Penn State Club 13

Key Moments:

* Senior Jack Holl scored a game-high six goals to lead Behrend in its second game on Friday
* Thompson added four goals for the Lions, while Nikolic and Tolczyk each netted a hat trick
* Hayslip (four assists) and Bradley (three assists) led Behrend in helpers, while Nowak notched two steals
* Vrono recorded 15 saves, accumulating 23 saves in the first two games of the season

Match Three
Score: Penn State Behrend 13, Pitt Club 11

Key Moments:

* After trailing 7-5 after the second quarter, the Lions scored six goals in the third quarter to take the lead against the Panthers
* Thompson recorded a game-high four goals, followed by Hayslip's and Bradley's two scores apiece
* Bradley, Hayslip, and Harsh Nigam (East Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids) each dished out two assists
* Goalies Friedman (two saves), Vrono (two saves), and Andy Zhuri (Houston, TX/Stratford) combined for nine total saves

Match Four
Score: Penn State Behrend 11, Washington & Jefferson 10
Records: Penn State Behrend (1-0), Washington & Jefferson (0-1)

Key Moments:

* This back-and-forth contest between Behrend and W&J couldn't be decided in one overtime as the game was sent to sudden death
* Nikolic led Behrend with four scores, delivering the sudden death winner in his first collegiate action
* Holl tallied a hat trick, while Thompson and Bowman registered their first career goals
* The other player to find the back of the net for the Lions against the Presidents was Bakh
* Bowman, Thompson, and Hayslip each recorded two assists in the final game of the invitational
* On the defensive end, Nikolic notched four takeaways
* Friedman made 23 saves in net to help Behrend secure its first victory of the new campaign

Up Next:

* The Lions return to action on Saturday, Sept. 21 for the two-day Erie Invite hosted by Mercyhurst at the Erie Prep Center. Behrend's first game is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. against Wheaton (Mass.).