MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Gannon men's water polo team split a pair of matches on Saturday as it opened play in the two-day Salem Open at Mylan Park.
 
Coach Zarko Sadikovic's Golden Knights started the day with a 14-11 victory over Mount St. Mary's and then dropped a 13-10 decision to Johns Hopkins. Gannon moved to 3-2 on the season.
 
Gannon will play two more matches in the Salem Open on Sunday.
 
 
What happened:
 
Gannon outscored Mount St. Mary's 5-2 in the second quarter to take a 7-5 halftime lead. Gannon took a 10-6 lead in the third quarter before MSM rallied to trim the lead to 10-9. Petar Markovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and Alexandros Kotskar (Voula, Greece/Athinaiki Agogh) then scored back-to-back to balloon the lead to 12-9.
 
In the second game, Gannon and Johns Hopkins were tied at 9-9 through three periods before the Blue Jays pulled away with a 4-1 fourth quarter.
 
 
By the numbers:
 
Markovic led Gannon with six goals against Mount St. Mary's. Kotskar struck for four goals, and Matt Harkrader added two.
 
Against Johns Hopkins, Markovic, Kotskar, and Ben Fribourg (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) each scored three goals for the Golden Knights.
 
Gannon goalie Alvaro Marco (Madrid, Spain/IES Ortega y Gasset) made six saves in the first game and 10 in the second game.
 
 
What's ahead:
Gannon will meet Toronto at 9:20 a.m. and Long Island at 1:20 p.m. on Sunday as they conclude play in the Salem Open.