By Scott Padula
Writer
The men’s water polo team won three out of four games this weekend at the North vs. South Invitational in Annapolis, Md. The team defeat Harvard, Iona and Fordham, but fell to Brown.
The Orange and Blue continued their winning streak by defeating Harvard on Sept. 17 in their first game of the tournament. The team dominated the entire game claiming a 9-3 halftime lead on its way to an 18-8 victory.
Alex Nowlin ’14 led the charge with three goals and three assists. Five other Bison posted multi-goal games, including co-captain Spencer Richley ’12 who found the back of the net four times. Goalie Matt Napleton ’13 bolstered the Bison’s defense, playing all 32 minutes and notching six saves. Napleton only allowed one goal in the fourth quarter to close out the game.
“Our key to success this weekend was our team awareness. Our offense still remains really solid with a really fast counter attack and strong two meter play. Our five on six was excellent all weekend long stopping teams from scoring on most of their man up opportunities. For the weeks to come it will be important to start playing better defense as a team and not allowing people to score so many goals against us,” co-captain Beau Caillouette ’12 said.
In the second game of the day, the Bison squared off with the Brown Bears. It was the first time Head Coach John McBride faced his old team, a team he coached for the past seven years. It turned out to be a disappointing reunion, as the Orange and Blue fell 8-7. Napleton continued his dominance in goal, saving eight shots in 32 minutes and allowing only three goals in the first half. Brian Barron ’13 led the way with four goals and an assist, while Alex Nowlin netted two goals and dished out four assists of his own.
The Bison’s ability to score was on display Sept. 18 in their victories over Iona and Fordham. The Orange and Blue took down the Gaels 16-11 before wrapping up the invitational with a 12-7 victory over the Rams.
In the first game, Jack Else ’14 and Barron led the way in scoring with four and three respectively. Nowlin had another strong performance with three goals and six assists. His nine points matched the most for a Bison since Richie Hyden’s nine point performance last season against Johns Hopkins. Napleton remained a force in goal, recording a career-high 11 saves.
In the nightcap, the Orange and Blue defeated Fordham in a balanced team effort. Three different Bison had multi-goal games, while nine total players registered a point. Again, Napleton had a strong performance with five saves. Keegan Williams ’15 made the most of his first minutes of the year, stopping three shots of his own.
“We will focus the coming weeks on developing our defensive drop. The games we played this past weekend were against the Northern Division and do not affect our standing in league because we are in the Southern Division. This weekend we will travel to Johns Hopkins, George Washington and Navy for our league games. We will be training hard this week in preparation,” Richley said.