Wheaton College (MA)

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Sophomore goalkeeper Nic Boyer (Toledo, Ohio) made 13 saves and junior Spyros Rapsomanikis (Kerkyra, Greece) scored a five meter penalty with one minute to play as the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's water polo team put their name in the win column for the first time in 2026 with an 11-10 win over Washington & Jefferson College on Sunday in Pennsylvania.

Wheaton improves to 1-2 on the year with the win, while Washington & Jefferson remains winless at 0-2 after the loss.

Boyer was the defensive anchor for the Lyons throughout all 32 minutes of the contest. The second-year goalkeeper came up huge, especially down the stretch as he made a save and snatched a steal in the final minute to preserve the win for Wheaton. Rapsomanikis netted the game-winning goal to build off his score in the third quarter. Junior Brian Otto (Escondido, Calif.) and first year Sean Spooner (Saline, Mich.) both finished with two goals and one assist, while junior Michael Ruemelin (Chicago, Ill.) finished with two goals as well. First year Stefan Kecman (Chevy Chase, Md.) had one goal and one assist and sophomore Jackson Kesserman (Buena Park, Calif.) matched that point total with a pair of helpers. 

Senior Dillon Parker (Nipomo, Calif.) led the way on offense for the Presidents as he finished with four goals and two assists. Sophomore Christopher Mitchell (Towson, Md.) had three points on two goals and one assist while junior Parker Elliott (Pennsburg, Pa.) and first year Luke Jacques (Dania Beach, Fla.) both finished with two points with a goal and an assist apiece. Sophomore goalkeeper Layne Evans had a busy day between the posts as he finished with 6 saves on 17 shots on target.

Washington & Jefferson had the benefit of playing in their home pool to start day two of the competition in Pennsylvania, and their comfort translated into the opening phases of the game. The hosts swarmed the ball and scored four unanswered goals within the first five minutes of play. A deft timeout called by Wheaton gave them time to regroup, and they immediately stopped the bleeding. Ruemelin found the back of the net right out of the timeout, and some stout defense held the Presidents off the board for the remainder of the frame. Ruemelin scored his second straight goal in the final minute of the quarter to halve the Lyons' deficit, and they sat in good position as the sides flipped for the second.

The Presidents scored first to start the second, but Spooner put one in just twenty seconds later to keep the Lyons' deficit at two goals. Wheaton found its rhythm on offense, and scored again through Spooner to make it a 5-4 game. Less than a minute later, Bray Turner (Forney, Texas) found himself in front of goal. The sophomore center shrugged off a desperate challenge by a lunging Presidents defender and slotted the ball into the bottom-right corner to knot the game up at 5-5. The deadlock remained in place at the halftime break, but momentum stayed with Wheaton.

Rapsomanikis opened up the scoring in the second half with a finesse shot across the mouth of the goal to give the Lyons a 6-5 lead, but they did not stop there. Junior Jared Safren (Antigua, Guatemala) scored another goal for Wheaton just over a minute after the lead was regained. The Presidents found themselves down by a pair, and locked in on the offensive side of the ball. They put three unanswered goals past Boyer to flip the lead around late in the third quarter. In the final minute of play, Spooner worked his way into the center of the offensive half and fired a shot into the top right corner to tie the game at 8-8 after three quarters. 

The hosts began the final frame with a flurry after they won the opening sprint. Before two minutes had elapsed, the Presidents scored twice to take a 10-8 lead. The Lyons were completely undeterred and continued to apply pressure on offense. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Washington & Jefferson began to waver. An exclusion gave Wheaton a chance with the man-advantage, and Otto wasted no time in converting that chance. He scored again to tie the game at 10-10 with three minutes to play, once again giving Wheaton the momentum. The Lyons continued to search for the winning goal, and a five meter penalty with 78 seconds left in the game put Rapsomanikis in front of goal with nothing but open water between him and his target. The whistle sounded, and Rapsomanikis buried his shot into the top-right corner to give Wheaton an 11-10 lead. The Presidents made an attempt at finding an equalizer, but Boyer was having none of it as he picked up a steal and a save in the final 60 seconds. Wheaton defeated Washington & Jefferson for the first win of the 2026 season.

The Lyons will play one more game in Pennsylvania today as they face off with Penn State Behrend at 1:50 pm. The Presidents will take on Connecticut College at 12:40 pm for their final game of the weekend as well.