Wheaton College (MA)

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's water polo team scored half a dozen goals but fell short of Austin College in their first game of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play by a score of 18-6 on Saturday at host Augustana College.

Wheaton fell to 1-14 after the loss while Austin College improved to 5-9 with the win. 

Junior Spyros Rapsomanikis (Corfu, Greece) led the Lyons with a pair of goals and an assist to drive his season total to 31 goals so far. Sophomore Charles Jacoby (Reading, Pa.) matched his season-high with two goals while junior Jack Ruggiero (Hamden, Conn.) and first year Stefan Kecman (Chevy Chase, Md.) rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper Nic Boyer (Toledo, Ohio) split the game with first year Leo Upson (Woodside, Calif.) and made three saves while Upson finished with one. 

Austin boasted four players with a hat-trick when all was said and done. Junior Preston Fiala (Deer Park, Texas), senior Sebastian Scheier (La Palma, Calif.), junior Carlos Camarena (Houston, Texas) and Aaron Mendoza (Boerne, Texas) each put three past Wheaton while Mendoza added an assist as well. First year Peyton Dimmock (Chesterfield, Mo.) picked up a pair of goals while senior Joshua Nelms (San Antonio, Texas) finished with two goals and one assist. First year Tate Kuhn (West Jordan, Utah) had a goal and an assist and the Kangaroos rounded out the scoring with a goal from first year Corben Hartnett (Clovis, Calif.). Junior Caleb Maddox (Mesquite, Texas) and sophomore Jordan Pomier (Pearland, Texas) split the goalkeeping duties to the tune of four saves and five saves respectively. 

Wheaton was the first team to score thanks to Rapsomanikis. His first shot of the game found the back of the net just one minute and 15 seconds into the contest. The Kangaroos were quick to respond as Kuhn equalized a minute later. Wheaton found themselves down a man soon after, which allowed Fiala to work his way into space and score the go-ahead goal. Dimmock made it 3-1 on Austin's next possession before Camarena ripped into the Lyons with a 71 second hat-trick. Dimmock scored once more with 20 seconds to go to give his side a big 7-1 lead after the first quarter. 

Ruggiero was ready at the start of the second quarter and scored just 59 seconds into the frame to inch Wheaton closer. Scheier wiped away that effort seconds later with back-to-back goals. Mendoza made it three goals for Austin in the second quarter before Jacoby found the back of the net for the first time. Fiala scored a powerplay goal on the next possession, but Kecman fired back with a goal of his own at even strength. Hartnett and Scheier worked off each other for back-to-back goals to close the half as their team led 13-4 at the break. 

Rapsomanikis started the second half the same way he started the first – with an early goal. Fiala poked one home 30 seconds before the break after a highly defensive quarter saw each side score only once. Mendoza and Nelms led off the fourth quarter with goals before Jacoby potted another one midway through the period. Mendoza and Nelms were willing to wipe that effort away as they both scored again inside of the final five minutes to give Austin an 18-6 win. 

The Lyons will play again today as they take on Johns Hopkins at 5:00 pm at Augustana. Austin will play Washington & Jefferson at 2:30 pm, also at Augustana.