STANFORD, Calif. — The 10th-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) men's water polo team fell to number 11 seed Washington & Jefferson College, 16-8, this afternoon in a consolation game 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 drop to 1-19 on the season, while the Presidents improve to 2-18. Wheaton will now play Connecticut College later today in a second consolation contest at 7:30 p.m. EST, while W&J takes on the same Conn. College squad tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. EST.
Washington & Jefferson held a 33-26 shot margin, while boasting a 14-5 advantage in steals.
Sophomore utility player Spyros Rapsomanikis (Kerkyra, Greece) led the Lyons with five points, including a pair of goals to go with three drawn exclusions, a steal and a field block, while sophomore two-meter Michael Ruemelin (Chicago, Ill.) netted two goals and added a pair of assists. Sophomore two-meter defender Jack Ruggiero (Hamden, Conn.) contributed with a goal and two steals.
Senior attacker Aidan Miller (Grove City, Ohio) tallied a game-high six points, including four goals in addition to a drawn exclusion and a field block for the Presidents and sophomore utility player Hector Santaella (Key Biscayne, Fla.) matched him with four goals of his own to go with a drawn exclusion and a field block. First year attacker Topher Mitchell (Annapolis, Md.) found the back of the net three times, handed out two assists and came up with a steal. Sophomore goalie Andrew Rippke (Perrysburg, Ohio) turned away eight of 11 shots and first year goalie Jonah Richardson (Deerfield, Ill.) allowed five markers for W&J.
The Presidents scored the first five goals of the game and took a 6-1 lead after one quarter of play. Santaella scored three times to lead Washington & Jefferson's first quarter blitz. Rapsomanikis netted the lone score of the quarter for Wheaton.
First year Jackson Kesserman (Buena Park, Calif.) scored the first goal of the second quarter to pull the Lyons within 6-2 with 6:38 showing, before the Presidents ripped off seven straight goals with the final three of the quarter and the first four of the second half to take a 13-2 advantage with 2:48 to play in the third quarter. Miller scored three goals and Mitchell added two markers to lead the stretch for W&J.
Wheaton answered by scoring six of the next eight markers, including a pair from Ruemelin, to cut the deficit to 15-8 with 54 ticks left in the contest. Junior attacker Adam Brock (Cypress, Texas) netted the final score of the match for the Presidents.
