TOURNAMENT: U.S. Naval Academy Tournament
HOST: Naval Academy
LOCATION: Annapolis, Md.
THE SHORT STORY: The Gannon men's water polo team opened the 2015  campaign at the Naval Academy Tournament in Annapolis, Md. The Golden Knights dropped their first two matches of the season first to Cerritos, 17-11 before falling 14-8 to Fordam University later in the day. The appearance marked the tenth consecutive season by the Golden Knights to have opened at the Naval Academy.

THE BASICS: MATCH ONE
Score: Cerritos 17, Gannon 11
Records: Cerritos (1-0), Gannon (0-0)

SCORES BY QUARTER (1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – TOTAL)
Gannon (3 – 5 – 7 – 11 – 11)
Cerritos ( 5 – 11 – 14 – 17 – 17)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Cerritos jumped out to a 5-3 lead over Gannon after the first quarter. Sophomore Nick Williams (Bainbridge Island, Wash. / Bainbridge Island) scored the first two goals of the 2015 season for the Golden Knights.
• Sophomore Gilberto Millan (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico / Colegio San Jose) and Williams each tallied a goal in the second quarter for the Golden Knights, but the Falcons scored six unanswered goals to push their lead to 11-5.
• The Golden Knights scored a pair of goals in the third quarter but it wasn't enough as the Falcons responded with three more goals to take a commanding 14-7 lead.
• Millian tallied the Golden Knights two lone goals of the fourth quarter, as Cerritos tacked on the final three goals and secured the 17-11 victory.
• Millian lead the Golden Knights with four goals and had two steals.
• Seniors Xavier Augustyniak (Erie, Pa./ Cathedral Prep) and  Adam Wolf (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington) also recorded two steals for Gannon.
• Freshman Brett Rehrer (Chino Hills, Calif. / Chino Hills) recorded 10 blocks in his collegiate debut.

GANNON GOALS (11)
Gilberto Millan (4)
Nick Williams (3)
Michael Squeglia (1)
Evan Wujcik (1)
Adam Wolf (1)

GANNON BLOCKS (11)
Brett Rehrer (10)
Nick Fagen (1)
 
THE BASICS: MATCH TWO
Score: Fordam 14, Gannon 8
Records: Fordam (1-1), Gannon (0-1)

SCORES BY QUARTER (1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – TOTAL)
Gannon (4 – 6 – 11 – 14 – 14)
Fordam (2 – 2 – 4 – 8)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Fordham took a 4-2 lead in the first quarter, as freshman Joe Dempsey (Riverside, Calif./ Riverside Polytechnic) and junior Marko Sadikovic (Nis. Serbia / Svetozar Markovic) had the two lone goals for Gannon in the first.
• The Rams tallied two unanswered goals in the second quarter to take a 6-2 lead.
• The Golden Knights netted two goals in the third quarter from Dempsey and M. Sadikovic but the Rams responded with five more goals to close out the third 11-4.
• M. Sadikovic tallied the final two goals as Millan and Dempsey each added a goal for the Golden Knights to make a final push but were unable as the Rams responded with three goals of their own and victory of 14-8.
• Dempsey and M. Saidkovic both recorded three goals for the Golden Knights, while Wolf had two steals and Rehrer had 18 blocks.

GANNON GOALS (8)
Joe Dempsey (3)
Gilberto Millan (1)
Marko Sadikovic (3)
Nick Williams (1)

GANNON BLOCKS (18)
Brett Rehrer (18)

UP NEXT
Gannon returns to action at the Naval Academy Tournament Sunday, Sept. 6, against Iona at 9:15 a.m. followed by Princeton at 1 p.m.