No. 19 Men's Water Polo Bests Chapman, 16-11, Fresno Pacific, 9-8

Saturday, October 26

Santa Clara, CA

2:40 PM ET

Brown University

Chapman University

No. 19 Men's Water Polo Bests Chapman, 16-11, Fresno Pacific, 9-8

10/26/2019 6:20:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Chapman Results Fresno Pacific Results

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – No. 19 Brown University men's water polo bested Chapman University, 16-11, and Fresno Pacific University, 9-8, at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament on Saturday at the Sullivan Aquatic Center on the campus of Santa Clara University.

Now having won seven of their last eight games, the Bears (16-9) gained an early lead in their win over the Panthers (6-13) – the No. 5 ranked team in Division III – in game one before using a strong defensive effort to earn the victory over the Sunbirds (6-18) in game two.

"It was good to see the team find a way to win in different ways," Brown head coach Felix Mercado said. "I'm seeing a lot of positive things right know, but we know that we are going to need to play a complete game tomorrow against Santa Clara in their own pool if we want to finish the weekend with a win."

Freshman Cole Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) paced Brown with five goals between the two games while senior Hudson Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) netted four goals. Senior James Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) distributed six assists against Chapman, and sophomore goalkeeper Ugo Piovan (Vouliagmeni, Greece) made 14 saves against Fresno Pacific.

Next, Brown concludes play at the tournament tomorrow – Sunday, Oct. 27 – against host Santa Clara at 1:40 p.m. ET (YouTube).

Game 1 – No. 19 Brown 16, Chapman 11

Senior Hudson Rawlings and freshman Cole Atwell each scored a hat trick, and senior James Thygesen dished out six assists as No. 19 Brown bested Chapman, 16-11, on Saturday afternoon.

In their first game of the day and second contest of the weekend, the Bears jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter and maintained at least a three-goal margin over the Panthers – the No. 5 ranked team in the CWPA Division III Poll – the rest of the way.

Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) and Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) paced the Brown offense with three goals apiece with Rawlings adding two assists and two field blocks. Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) finished with seven points on one goal and his six assists.

Junior Aidan Reilly (Los Angeles, Calif.), sophomore Gabe Kaplan (Santa Monica, Calif.), and freshman Leo Berkman (Orinda, Calif.) each scored two goals with Reilly chipping in two steals.

Seniors Galen Hu (Collevyille, Texas) and Will Collier (Darien, Conn.) and sophomore Andrew Penner (Atherton, Calif.) each netted a goal. Senior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) contributed two assists and four field blocks.

In the cage, junior goalkeeper Riad Hallal (Coronado, Calif.) made eight saves.

Brown opened the contest with a 4-0 lead behind a pair of goals from Berkman and one tally apiece from Rawlings and Reilly. Markers from Reilly and Thygesen helped the Bears stay ahead 6-3 at the end of the first quarter.

The Bears began the second stanza on a 3-0 spurt on the strength of tallies from Rawlings, Hu, and Kaplan, pulling ahead 9-3. Brown remained up 9-5 at halftime.

Markers from Atwell, Kaplan, and Collier staked Brown to a 12-7 edge in the third quarter before a goal from Penner made the score 13-8 heading to the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, Atwell netted a pair of goals, and Rawlings posted the game's final tally to close out the win.

Brown 16, Chapman 11
Brown....................... 6…3…4…3…16
Chapman................. 3…2…3…3…11
Brown Goals: Atwell 3, Rawlings 3, Berkman 2, Kaplan 2, Reilly 2, Collier, G. Hu, Penner, Thygesen.
Brown Saves: Hallal 8.

Game 2 – No. 19 Brown 9, Fresno Pacific 8

Sophomore goalkeeper Ugo Piovan made 14 saves, and freshman Cole Atwell and sophomore Matt Simko each scored two goals as No. 19 Brown edged Fresno Pacific, 9-8, on Saturday evening.

Taking part in their second game of the day and third match of the weekend, the Bears scored the final goal of the third quarter and the first goal of the fourth frame, while limiting the Sunbirds to one goal in the final 10:27, to pull out the win.

Atwell (San Diego, Calif.) added two steals and two field blocks to his two goals as he paced the Brown offense alongside Simko (Coral Gables, Fla.).

Senior Armen Deirmenjian (Beverly Hills, Calif.) totaled a goal, two assists, and three steals while fellow senior Hudson Rawlings (Murrieta, Calif.) posted a goal, two assists, and three steals.

Senior James Thygesen (Menlo Park, Calif.) tallied a goal, an assist, and two steals, freshman Leo Berkman (Orinda, Calif.) notched a goal, an assist, two steals, and two field blocks, and sophomore Gabe Kaplan (Santa Monica, Calif.) tacked on a goal.

Backstopping the Bears, Piovan (Vouliagmeni, Greece) recorded his sixth double-figure save performance of the year and his second such effort of the weekend with his 14 saves.

Goals from Deirmenjian and Atwell gave the Bears an early 2-0 lead before a marker from Kaplan kept the Bears ahead 3-2 at the end of one.

Despite a goal from Simko, FPU tied the score at 4-4 with 2:35 to go in the second quarter before Rawlings pushed Brown back ahead 5-4. The Sunbirds scored with 10 seconds left in the half, knotting the score at 5-5 at the break.

Simko and Berkman netted the first two goals of the second half, giving Brown a 7-5 edge with 4:11 left in the third quarter. FPU responded with a pair of goals, equalizing at 7-7 at the 2:27 mark. Atwell answered 23 seconds later as Brown carried an 8-7 lead into the final stanza.

A goal from Thygesen put Brown up 9-7 with 5:07 to play, and the Bears defense allowed just one goal – at 4:42 – the rest of the way.

Brown 9, Fresno Pacific 8
Brown....................... 3…2…3…1…9
Fresno Pacific......... 2…3…2…1…8
Brown Goals: Atwell 2, Simko 2, Berkman, Deirmenjian, Kaplan, Rawlings, Thygesen.
Brown Saves: Piovan 14.