Men’s Water Polo Takes Down Caltech; Goes 1-3 At Gary Troyer Tournament

CALIFORNIA – The Penn State Behrend men's water polo team was victorious against Caltech by a score of 13-9 in its first game of the Gary Troyer Tournament, finishing 1-3 over four games in California for the weekend.

Match One
Score: Penn State Behrend 13, Caltech 9
Records: Penn State Behrend (3-3), Caltech (2-8)

Key Moments:

* The Lions outscored the Beavers 6-2 in the second quarter to grab a commanding 8-2 lead at the end of the first half and would never look back en route to their third win of the season
* Freshman Nick Thompson (Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville) scored a game-high four goals to go along with one assist for five points
* Jack Holl (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich), Freddy Browarski (Austin, TX/Westwood), and Atticus Bowman (Albuquerque, NM/Volcano Vista) all tallied two scores, while Bowman dished out six assists to finish with a game-high eight points. Bowman also added a steal for Behrend
* Other Lions to find the back of the net were Dylan Hayslip (Flower Mound, TX/Marcus), Karol Nowak (Barrington, IL/Barrington), and Evan Blasky (Rockford, MI/Rockford)
* In net, Ethan Friedman (Valley Center, CA/Valley Center) made 10 saves to help Behrend earn the victory
* As a team, the Lions shot 52 percent on 25 shots compared to Caltech's 31 percent on 29 shots taken

Match Two
Score: Occidental 20, Penn State Behrend 7
Records: Occidental (9-3), Penn State Behrend (3-4)

Key Moments:

* Holl netted four of the Lions seven goals on four shots against the hosts
* Blasky, Leo Galocha Nikolic (Bethesda, MD/Walt Whitman), and Connor Bradley (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen) also scored vs. the Tigers
* Senior goalie Leyton Vrono (Murrieta, CA/Murrieta Valley) finished with five saves, one assist, and one steal for Behrend
* Will Aikens (La Grange Park, IL/Lyons Township) tallied two assists, while Thompson delivered two takeaways on the defensive end

Match Three
Score: Ottawa (AZ) 21, Penn State Behrend 8
Records: Occidental (3-5), Penn State Behrend (3-5)

Key Moments:

* Thompson led the Lions with four goals on six shots, while Holl and Robert Bakh (Issaquah, WA/Gibson EK) each chipped in two goals against the Spirit
* Freshman Harsh Nigam (East Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids) registered two assists for Behrend
* On the defensive end, Browarski and Nowak finished with two steals apiece
* Friedman and Vrono combined to make eight saves in net

Match Four
Score: Whittier 18, Penn State Behrend 7
Records: Whittier (11-2), Penn State Behrend (3-5)

Key Moments:

* Holl notched five goals for the Lions in their final game of the tournament
* The senior also added three steals against the Poets
* Thompson and Bowman were the other Behrend players to find the back of the net
* Friedman collected six saves
* In four games over the tournament, Holl (13 goals) and Thompson (nine goals) accumulated to score 22 times

Up Next:

* The Lions are back in action next weekend at Washington & Jefferson for four games. Behrend's first game against Wheaton (MA) on Saturday, Oct. 12 begins at 10 a.m.