Men’s Water Polo Beats No. 15 George Washington, 16-10, to Cap 4-0 Weekend

Sunday, October 20

Cambridge, MA

2:15 PM

Brown University

George Washington University

Men’s Water Polo Beats No. 15 George Washington, 16-10, to Cap 4-0 Weekend

10/20/2019 3:50:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Results

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Freshman Cole Atwell scored six goals to power Brown University men's water polo to a 16-10 victory over No. 15 George Washington University at the Harvard Invitational on Sunday afternoon at Blodgett Pool.

Playing in their fourth and final game of the tournament, the Bears (14-8) used an 8-0 run to turn a 5-5 tie late in the second quarter into a 13-5 advantage over the Colonials (16-6) late in the third quarter, capping a 4-0 weekend with the victory.

"This was a good weekend for us," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "Our goal is to continuously improve over the course of the season, which is something that we did over these four games. We'll look to take this momentum out to California next weekend and then back into conference play."

Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) paced the Bears with his six goals alongside two field blocks and two ejections drawn. Senior James Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) netted three goals with an assist.

Freshman Leo Berkman (Orinda, Calif.) posted two goals, an assist, and two ejections drawn, senior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) tallied two goals and two ejections drawn, and sophomore Andrew Penner (Atherton, Calif.) compiled two goals and two ejections drawn.

Sophomore Matt Simko (Coral Gables, Fla.) contributed a goal, an assist, and two ejections drawn while senior Hudson Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) and junior Aidan Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.) each distributed a team-high three assists.

Splitting time in the cage, junior goalkeeper Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) made five saves in the first half, and sophomore goalie Ugo Piovan (Vouliagmeni, Greece) turned aside five shots in the second half.

The two teams played a back-and-forth first quarter, standing tied at 3-3 through the end of one. Deirmenjian, Thygesen, and Berkman netted goals for the Bears in the stanza.

A pair of goals from Atwell kept the game tied at 5-5 midway through the second stanza before the Bears began their 8-0 run.

Thygesen and Atwell started the streak with consecutive goals to end the quarter, giving Brown a 7-5 halftime lead. The Bears netted six unanswered goals to open the third quarter behind two tallies apiece from Atwell and Penner alongside one goal each from Berkman and Simko.

Piovan and Brown's defense blanked the Colonials over the first 7:57 of the third quarter before GW scored a goal with three seconds left in the period.

Following consecutive goals from GW to open the fourth, Brown used a 3-0 burst to pull ahead 16-8 with 4:41 to play. Deirmenjian started the run before Thygesen and Atwell converted back-to-back penalty shots. The Colonials added the final two goals of the contest, including a tally on a 5-meter penalty.

Brown evened the season series with GW at 1-1 after the Colonials took a 10-7 decision from the Bears on Sept. 15.

Next, Brown plays at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament against No. 11 Loyola Marymount (Oct. 25, 5:40 p.m. ET), Chapman (Oct. 26, 2:40 p.m. ET), Fresno Pacific (Oct. 26, 8:00 p.m. ET), and host Santa Clara (Oct. 27, 1:40 p.m. ET).

Brown 16, George Washington 10
Brown....................... 3…4…6…3…16
G. Washington........ 3…2…1…4…10
Brown Goals: Atwell 6, Thygesen 3, Berkman 2, Deirmenjian 2, Penner 2, Simko.
Brown Saves: Hallal 5, Piovan 5.