STANFORD, Calif. — The 10th-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) men's water polo team was defeated by number seven seed Austin College, 21-6, this afternoon in the opening round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament at the Avery Aquatic Center on the campus of host Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.
The Lyons slip to 1-18 on the season, while the Kangaroos improve to 8-8.
Wheaton will take on 11th seed Washington & Jefferson College tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. ET at the Avery Aquatic Center. W&J was defeated by number six seed Augustana College, 21-4.
Austin advances to play second-seeded University of Southern California tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The 'Roos owned a 39-17 shot advantage in the match and held a 19-6 margin in steals.
First year attacker Charles Jacoby (Reading, Pa.) led the Lyons with a pair of goals, while sophomore utility player Spyros Rapsomanikis (Kerkyra, Greece) tallied three points with a goal and two assists to go with a pair of steals and four drawn exclusions. Sophomore Josh Vander Wagen (Brookfield, Ill.) scored a goal and added a field block. Sophomore goalie Dylan Boccali (Camarillo, Calif.) made seven saves for Wheaton.
Junior center Sebastian Scheier (La Palma, Calif.) and sophomore center defender Carlos Camarena (Houston, Texas) each netted a game-high four goals to pace the Kangaroos. Scheier also had a steal and a field block and Camarena recorded a steal. First year attacker Owen Altermatt (Boerne, Texas) contributed with a trio of goals, three drawn exclusions and a steal and junior attacker Greyson Gaworecki (Seabrook, Texas) dished out four assists in addition to scoring a goal, drawing an exclusion and coming up with a steal. First year goalie Jordan Pomier (Pearland, Texas) turned away four of five shots and sophomore keeper Caleb Maddox (Mesquite, Texas) stopped three of seven shots.
Austin took a 6-2 lead after one quarter of play, led by a pair of goals from senior attacker Aidan Wade (Flower Mound, Texas). Camarena and Gaworecki notched the first two goals of the game in a span of 39 seconds for the 'Roos, before Rapsomanikis cut the deficit in half for the Lyons with a goal at 6:15 to make it 2-1. First year attacker Bray Turner (Forney, Texas) netted a marker for Wheaton to pull it within 4-2 with 61 seconds left in the opening period. Austin netted the final to goals, including a goal from junior attacker Matthew Leeworthy (Walnut, Calif.) with one tick left on the clock for the 'Roos' sixth goal.
The Lyons made it a two-goal game again with the first two scores of the second quarter coming from sophomore Jared Safren (Antigua, Guatemala) and Jacoby to cut the difference to 6-4 with 7:04 left in the second quarter. Austin responded with four of the final five goals of the second quarter to take a 10-5 advantage at the intermission. Jacoby scored Wheaton's last goal of the quarter at the 3:15 mark, before Scheier found the back of the net for the 'Roos just a minute later.
Austin effectively put the game away with all five goals of the third period and the first five markers of the fourth quarter to give it a commanding 20-5 lead with 3:44 remaining in the contest. Scheier scored three times during the stretch, while Camarena added a pair of goals.
Vander Wagen scored for the Lyons, to end a scoring drought of 17:38, with their sixth goal coming with 1:37 to play in the game. Maddox capped the scoring with 49 seconds left for the 'Roos.
