THE RUNDOWN
Final Scores: Gannon 22, Mount St. Mary's 10 | Gannon 9, Mercyhurst 6
Records: Gannon (3-0) | MSM (1-2) | Hurst (1-1)
Location: ARCC Swimming Pool | Emmitsburg, Md.
The Short Story: The Gannon men's water polo team picked up right where it left off in conference play over 15 months ago, winning a pair of games on its first day of Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference West play Saturday at Mount St. Mary's.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Two weeks after Gannon set a program scoring record against Mount St. Mary's, the Golden Knights couldn't quite shake the Mount early, as the hosts scored first in the second quarter to tie it up 5-5. It was all Knights from there though, as two straight goals from Ethan Hamp (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) early in the second gave Gannon the lead for good.
- Mount St. Mary's answered to pull it within one, but Gannon rattled off seven straight goals around the halftime break to jump ahead by a large margin. A penalty shot from Anthony Squeglia (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) started that run, with John Vieira (Erie, Pa/Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy (McDowell)) and Hamp each adding a pair of goals.
- Three straight finishes from the Mount early in the fourth only brought it to 16-10, and the Knights netted the final six goals to cap things off, with Vladimir Mickic (Subotica, Serbia/Nikola Tesla) tallying two in that span.
- It took Gannon just over nine minutes of game action to score nine goals against Mount St. Mary's. It took the Knights all 32 to do the same in a defensive battle against Mercyhurst, although it was never closer than two goals after the first quarter.
- That strong start was bolstered by Dylan Schmitzerle (Plymouth, Mich.), who scored three man-up goals in the first 12 minutes to boost Gannon out to a 4-0 lead. The Lakers would manage to cut that in half with goals just before the break, including one with just 30 seconds left before halftime to make it 4-2.
- The Golden Knight defense gave Hurst the rough end of the pineapple in the third though, outscoring the Lakers 4-0. Schmitzerle added his fourth goal in the frame, with Hamp, Robert Bolmanski (Erie, Pa./McDowell) and Squeglia each netting one.
- Mercyhurst staged a rally though, with three consecutive man-up goals pulling it to within three. Another with just 47 ticks left made it 8-6, but they got just one more shot before Squeglia capped things with another Gannon goal.
GAME NOTES
- Two weeks after scoring 26 against Mount St. Mary's, Gannon put up 22 on Saturday morning. Outside of the new record, 22 is the most scored in a game since a 24-13 win over Monmouth on Oct. 10, 2015.
- That 2015 weekend is also significant, as it's been more than five years since the Golden Knights have dropped a regular-season conference game. After Saturday's two wins, Gannon has won 26 conference games in a row.
- Hamp set a new career high with his five goals against the Mount, and the senior finished the day with a team-high six.
- Hollo played the entire Mercyhurst game in goal, making 15 saves on 21 shots on goal.
- After staying relatively quiet against Mount St. Mary's, Schmitzerle broke out with four goals against Mercyhurst to make up nearly half the Gannon offense. The reigning MAWPC Rookie of the Week also added two assists and five steals in that one.
- The win against the Lakers was the 12th straight in the series for Gannon.
UP NEXT
- Gannon continues its sprint of a season next Saturday, heading to Morgantown, West Virginia, for conference games against Salem and McKendree.
- Both opponents will be making their season debuts that weekend, with matches against Gannon falling near the middle of their slates.
- The Golden Knights are 7-1 all-time against McKendree, with three wins coming last year, including in overtime in the MAWPC-West title game.
- Gannon has faced Salem 50 times in the program's history, holding a 43-7 all-time lead.
