ERIE, Pa. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's water polo team was defeated by No. 10 Augustana College (Ill.), 33-8, this evening in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play at the Junker Center at host Pennsylvania State University Behrend in Erie, Pa.
The Lyons dip to 1-11 overall, while the Vikings improve to 9-6.
Augustana dominated possession with a 55-25 shot advantage, while holding Wheaton to exactly two goals in each quarter. The Vikings erupted for 13 goals in the third quarter to put the contest out of reach.
Sophomore utility player Spyros Rapsomanikis (Kerkyra, Greece) netted four goals in addition to drawing an exclusion and making a steal for the Lyons, while first year Bray Turner (Forney, Texas) scored twice. First year attackers Charles Jacoby (Reading, Pa.) and Jackson Kesserman (Buena Park, Calif.) each tallied a goal as well. Sophomore goalie Dylan Boccali (Camarillo, Calif.) stopped two of 16 shots in 16 minutes, while first year keeper Nic Boyer (Toledo, Ohio) turned back 12 of 30 shots that he faced in 16 minutes.
Junior attacker Alden Brinkmeier (Keller, Texas) racked up a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists to lead Augustana and added a steal. Senior utility player Stevan Rasic (Park Ridge, Ill.) netted a game-high five goals in addition to an assist and a drawn exclusion and sophomore utility player Cole Faux (San Antonio, Texas) netted five goals to go with an assist and three steals. First year keeper Lawson Soukup (Chula Vista, Calif.) made nine saves.
The Vikings owned a 5-2 lead after the first quarter of play, led by a pair of goals from junior Rhys Lomax (Johannesburg, South Africa.). Rapsomanikis and Kesserman both scored for Wheaton in the opening quarter.
Augustana scored the first two markers of the second quarter, before Turner found the back of the net with 5:12 left in the second period to cut the deficit to 7-3 for the Lyons. The Vikings started to pull away with five straight goals, including two from Rasic, to take a 12-3 advantage. Rapsomanikis broke up the string with a goal for Wheaton, but senior attacker Tyler Leslie (Aurora, Ill.) netted the final goal of the half, before Augustana scored the first four markers of the third quarter to increase its lead to 17-4 with 6:32 to play in the third period.
Turner scored the Lyons' fifth goal at the 6:16 mark of the third quarter, but the Vikings reeled off five more goals, including a pair from Faux, to increase their advantage to 22-5 with 108 seconds left in the third quarter. Rapsomanikis scored again for Wheaton to make it 22-6, before Augustana closed out the quarter with four more goals to extend its lead to 26-6.
The Vikings opened the fourth quarter with the first two markers, but the Lyons scored two of the next three, including scores from Rapsomanikis and Jacoby to cut the margin to 29-8. Augustana scored the final four goals unfettered.
Wheaton returns to action tomorrow when it takes on Austin College at 12:30 p.m. in Erie, while the Vikings play Washington & Jefferson College tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
