The men’s water polo team put forth its best defensive effort of the season, but unbalanced scoring cost the team another game in the Colonials 9-8 loss to conference-rival Johns Hopkins University Wednesday night at the Smith Center, head coach Scott Reed said. Junior Pat Dodge dominated the Colonials’ offensive, scoring five goals in the loss.

“Every time we play Johns Hopkins, it’s going to be a barnburner,” Reed said. “We played intense defense but lapsed a few times and that was costly.”

GW clawed back from an 8-6 deficit in the fourth quarter, outscoring Hopkins 2-1 in the final quarter but the Colonials could not complete the comeback despite a barrage of shots in the final seconds. Hopkins scored quickly but GW’s defense tightened behind strong goal keeping by freshman Tom Mills to hold Hopkins to one goal.

Freshman Anthony Guadagni scored with five minutes to play and sophomore Nick Koenemann added another a minute later. But their efforts were not enough.

“We just need to shoot and score,” Dodge said. “We’re not going to beat good teams until we do.”

GW (2-10, 0-4 CWPA) jumped out to an early lead behind goals by sophomore Srdan Radnic and Dodge. Hopkins (6-10 2-2 CWPA) quickly closed the gap with three-straight goals to end the first quarter with a 3-2 lead.

The Colonials came back in the second quarter, with Dodge firing home four goals. But Hopkins added two in the quarter to send the game to halftime in a 6-6 tie.

The Hopkins defense then bared down and held GW scoreless in the third quarter, while the Colonials defense broke down, leading to two easy Hopkins’ goals putting the Blue Jays up 8-6 heading into the final quarter.

Reed was pleased with his team’s effort.
“It was a fantastic game, it doesn’t get any better,” he said. “We’ve got a tournament in two weeks and we’ll be ready.”

GW plays in an inter-regional tournament Oct. 18-19 in Grove City, Pa.