The GW men’s water polo team, which had lost nine straight games entering the postseason and all eight of its division contests this year, rallied behind 10 goals in three games from sophomore Cray Rogers to take fifth place at this weekend’s CWPA Southern Division Championship in Lewisburg, Pa.

The Colonials (9-22) did not begin the event promisingly, falling 12-5 to Johns Hopkins when the Blue Jays rattled off four unanswered scores in the second period to take a 6-1 lead into halftime. GW showed signs of life in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 7-5, but gave up five straight scores in the fourth to seal the loss.

Later that same day, GW snapped its losing streak against Washington & Jefferson when Rogers and senior John-Claude Wright each scored three times to help the Colonials win by 13-6. Seniors Rick Rogers, Nick Archambault and Marshall Freedman each added a pair of goals as well, with freshman Guy Helman also scoring.

In addition to his hat trick, Wright collected four goals and seven assists in the match.

The team’s four seniors – Wright, Rogers, Archambault and Freedman – again scored a total of nine goals in their final game Sunday, a 14-4 win over Gannon in the championship’s fifth-place game. Just as they did against Washington & Jefferson the day before, Wright scored three times while the other three added two apiece, with Wright’s trio of scores giving him 203 for his career, fifth-most in GW history.

A pair of underclassmen shone as well as it was Rogers, however, that led the team in scoring, netting five goals in the season-ending victory. Freshman goalkeeper Cameron Illes collected 11 saves in the win, giving him a total of 252 on the year, the fourth-best single-season mark in the history of the program.

The fifth-place finish was the Colonials’ third in the last four years. In 2007, GW finished third.