Brown University
St. Francis (N.Y.)
No. 12 Men's Water Polo Edges St. Francis, Fordham, Clinches Divisional Top Seed
11/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – No. 12 Brown University men's water polo edged St. Francis Brooklyn, 14-12, and Fordham, 11-6, and clinched the top seed for the CWPA Northern Division Championship at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center on Sunday on the final day of the regular season.
The Bears (21-6, 12-0 CWPA North) finished the regular season with an undefeated conference record with their victories over the Terriers (11-11, 7-4 CWPA North) and the Rams (16-13, 5-7 CWPA North).
Brown defeated both sides for the second time this season. The team beat St. Francis, 14-11, on the road on Oct. 17 and topped Fordham, 13-8, on the road on Sept. 27.
"It was nice to get a pair of wins and to clinch the top seed for Northerns," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "We do need to continue to get better and to fix a couple of things. There are too many good teams in our division for us to get away with not playing to our capabilities."
Next, Brown will host the CWPA Northern Division Championship at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center from Nov. 7-8. The top-seeded Bears will open play at the tournament on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 4:30 p.m. against the winner of the game pitting No. 4 seed Fordham and No. 5 seed MIT.
Game 1 – No. 12 Brown 14, St. Francis 12
No. 12 Brown used a 4-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to turn a 10-10 tie into a 14-10 lead on its way to a 14-12 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday morning.
Senior Matty Gallas (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) paced the Bears offense with three goals – including two 5-meter penalty shot goals – and an assist. Junior Jake Wyatt (Corona Del Mar, Calif.) led the team with four assists.
Junior Luke Irwin (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and sophomores Rico Burke (San Mateo, Calif.), Tommy Bush (Lafayette, Calif.), and Tyler Kirchberg (Orinda, Calif.) each netted two goals.
Senior Will Klein (Pasadena, Calif.), junior Yahel Murvitz-Lahav (Tel Avivi, Israel), and freshman Santiago Nunez (Miami, Fla.) each added a single tally. Junior Warren Smith (Dallas, Texas) chipped in two assists.
In the cage, junior Luke Weiser (Los Alamitos, Calif.) made 10 saves and did not allow a goal over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter.
St. Francis opened the game with a 2-1 lead despite a goal from Kirchberg via Wyatt, but the Bears registered four straight markers to take a 5-2 edge. Gallas started the run with a goal from the left wing from Wyatt before Irwin posted back-to-back goals from the inside, and Bush closed the run with a shot from the right wing. The Terriers charted the period's last tally to pull within 5-3.
Brown maintained a 7-5 edge with 2:20 to play in the second behind a goal from Klein on the inside, with a helper from Gallas, and a strike from Burke into the right side of the goal. The visitors logged the final two goals before the break to level the contest at 7-7.
The Terriers took an 8-7 lead to open the third frame prior to a goal from Burke on the right wing from Wyatt and a Murvitz-Lahav marker from the point, giving the Bears a 9-8 edge. After St. Francis tied it at 9-9, Gallas converted his first 5-meter penalty shot with 51 seconds to play in the stanza. The Terriers scored again, but Gallas responded with his second 5-meter goal at the 0:16 mark to push Brown ahead, 11-10, heading to the fourth.
The Bears netted the first three goals of the final period to gain a 14-10 advantage with 3:05 remaining. Kirchberg opened the quarter's scoring with an assist from Wyatt before Bush scored from beyond five meters, and Nunez struck with a skip shot. The Terriers made a late comeback attempt, scoring twice inside of the final 42 seconds.
Brown 14, St. Francis 12
Brown....................... 5…2…4…3…14
St. Francis................ 3…4…3…2…12
Brown Goals: Gallas 3, Burke 2, Bush 2, Irwin 2, Kirchberg 2, Klein, Murvitz-Lahav, Nunez.
Brown Saves: Weiser 10.
Game 2 – No. 12 Brown 11, Fordham 6
No. 12 Brown outscored Fordham 3-0 in the fourth quarter to pull away in an 11-6 victory on Sunday afternoon in the team's Senior Game honoring Klein and Gallas.
Klein led the Bears with three goals in his final regular season home game while Irwin and Burke each netted two goals. Murvitz-Lahav and Wyatt helped Brown distribute the ball – tallying four and three assists respectively.
Freshman Travis Bouscaren (Cambridge, Mass.), Bush, Gallas, and Kirchberg each logged one goal apiece.
Weiser blocked 10 shots for the second time in as many contests.
Klein opened the game with back-to-back goals, scoring off a helper from Murvitz-Lahav on the inside and converting another shot via an assist from Gallas. Fordham tied the game at 2-2 before Irwin scored from two meters to give Brown a 3-2 edge after one period.
Burke posted the second quarter's first goal off a pass from Murvitz-Lahav, and Gallas pushed Brown's lead to 5-2 after a cross-pool pass from Wyatt. The Rams responded with two goals to trim their deficit to 5-4 at the half.
The Bears started the second half with a 3-0 run, beginning with a goal from Klein at two meters on a 6-on-5 off a feed from Murvitz-Lahav. Irwin followed with a goal on a turnaround shot off another Murvitz-Lahav helper, and Bouscaren found the back of the net with a shot from well beyond the 5-meter mark. Fordham scored twice within the period's final 70 seconds to pull within 8-6 after three stanzas.
Brown shut out the visitors in the final frame, taking the period 3-0. Kirchberg netted the quarter's first goal from the right wing via a feed from Wyatt. Burke scored next from two meters on the power play on another Wyatt assist. Bush scored the "goal of the match" on the contest's last tally, sending a one-handed, one-timed shot into the back of the net off a pass inside from Smith.
Brown 11, Fordham 6
Brown....................... 3…2…3…3…11
Fordham.................. 2…2…2…0…6
Brown Goals: Klein 3, Burke 2, Irwin 2, Bouscaren, Bush, Gallas, Kirchberg.
Brown Saves: Weiser 10.
