Wheaton College (MA)

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's water polo team was tripped up by Connecticut College in their second game in New London on Saturday as they fell 24-13 to close out the weekend.

Wheaton fell to 1-5 with the loss while the Camels improved to 3-5 with the win.

Wheaton was led by junior Spyros Rapsomanikis (Kerkyra, Greece) as he potted seven goals for a new season high. Sophomore Ayden Guess (Alvin, Texas) and junior Jack Ruggiero (Hamden, Conn.) both netted two goals while sophomore Bray Turner (Forney, Texas) and first year Sean Spooner (Chevy Chase, Md.) rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper Nic Boyer (Toledo, Ohio) played all 32 minutes of the contest as he finished with 12 saves on 36 shots faced. 

Senior Jesse Ellis (Fresno, Calif.) lighted the path for the Camels with a team-high four goals. Senior Cormac Stevens (Philadelphia, Pa.) and junior Keegan Kosiba (Birmingham, Mich.) both finished with a hat-trick of goals and one assist. The Camels found goals from nine other goalscorers, while junior goalie Artem Kyselov (Dnipro, Ukraine) took home three steals and four saves on five goals allowed. 

Junior Thomas McDonough (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) started the scoring one minute into the contest, but Wheaton needed 13 seconds to build a response. Rapsomanikis buried his first shot of the game to tie up the score and ignite the Wheaton offense in the opening phase. Connecticut responded with four unanswered goals to take a 5-1 lead late into the first quarter. Rapsomanikis again had the answer ready as he earned a five-meter penalty shot and converted the opportunity into a goal without any drama. Connecticut again came down the pool in search of a goal, but Boyer snatched the ball away for a steal which Guess quickly turned into a goal. Connecticut did manage to find a powerplay goal before the quarter ended but the Lyons were still within reach at 6-3. 

The Camels slipped three straight goals past Boyer's outstretched arms to begin the second quarter, but the Lyons found a response through Guess. Unfortunately Guess was whistled for an exclusion seconds after his score, resulting in a powerplay goal for the Camels. Connecticut scored three more times before Rapsomanikis found the back of the net once again after a huge double-save by Boyer. The Camels scored one more before halftime to drive the score up to 14-5 at the break, leaving the Lyons with a very steep hill to climb. 

Wheaton exited the locker room after halftime with renewed energy. Boyer made another huge save which set up a breakout for the Lyons. Rapsomanikis flew down the pool and scored the first goal of the second half. Turner kept the pressure on with a shot that just missed, but Ruggiero was on top of the rebound as he scored to make it 14-7. Rapsomanikis added another goal 45 seconds later after Otto stole the ball from the Camels, and Ruggiero scored his second of the game just past the midpoint of the period. Connecticut managed three goals in the third quarter, just one fewer than the Lyons' four, but the blue and white still trailed 17-9 going into the final frame. 

Rapsomanikis got the scoring started in the fourth as he converted a five-meter penalty in the first minute of play. His effort was wiped away by a Connecticut goal scored by Ellis which preceded a score from McDonough. The Camels got to 20 with their second straight goal, but Spooner found the answer while the Lyons were down a man to make it 20-11. Rapsomanikis followed up his teammate's effort with his last goal of the contest, but three straight Connecticut goals kept the Lyons down. Turner scored with 53 seconds left to play, but the Camels found time for one more goal before the finish to take the win 24-13.

Connecticut College will head over to Providence as they take on Brown on Saturday at 11:00 am. Wheaton will take on MIT on Saturday at 12:45 pm in their next game.