Men's Water Polo | 11/6/2016 5:57:00 PM

ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst men's water polo team took down Connecticut College 11-8 to win the Collegiate Water Polo Association Mid-Atlantic Conference West Division title at Cathedral Prep Events Center Sunday afternoon. The Lakers are the first team to win the Western Division title in the newly-aligned CWPA conference formatting system.
 
This was the second time the Lakers and Camels faced off this season, with Connecticut College (CC) taking the first matchup 14-13 in overtime down at Washington and Jefferson in mid-October.
 
In the first quarter, CC scored the game's first goal on a penalty shot at the 5:23 mark. After a Laker turnover, the Camels doubled their lead on their next possession. Jack Howe got the Lakers on the board with 1:36 remaining in the quarter. Howe's goal was followed by another Laker score, this time by Otis Tyson. The Camels and Lakers exchanged one more goal each, with Connor Schmitz getting the tally to tie the game at 3 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Schmitz scored again on the first possession on the second quarter, this time on the power play, to give the Lakers their first lead of the game 4-3. The Lakers forced two turnovers on the Camels' next two possessions, and then proceeded to take a 5-3 lead on Ryan Witoslawski's goal at 5:51. The next goal wasn't scored until more than four minutes later, when Howe tallied his second of the day to give Mercyhurst the 6-3 advantage. CC bounced right back to score two quick goals, including one with six seconds remaining in the period, to pull back within one at halftime.
 
Alec Diaz notched his first score of the game to begin the scoring in the third period for Mercyhurst. The Camels didn't score until the 2:56 mark in the period to make it 7-6 Lakers. Alex Cappuccio got the Mercyhurst lead back to two with a power-goal on the next possession. CC followed that up with two straight goals, including another score with less than ten seconds in the quarter, to tie the game 8-8 entering the final eight minutes.
 
Mercyhurst retook the lead on Joey Ryan's power-play tally with 6:10 remaining in the game. Andrew Too-A-Foo made a save on CC's next possession to give the ball back to Mercyhurst. Philip Jenny took advantage on the Lakers' next shot attempt to extend the lead 10-8. Another Camels' turnover allowed Diaz to counter and score for the Lakers to get to their eventual final score of 11. Mercyhurst locked down the Camels attack in the final quarter, grabbing four steals and getting four saves by Too-A-Foo to win the Western Division title game 11-8.
 
Too-A-Foo, who finished with 13 saves in the game, earned the tournament's most valuable player award. Curtis Robinette was dubbed the coach of the tournament for Mercyhurst.
 
Mercyhurst now advances the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championships to be held at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. Nov. 18-20. Other teams in that tournament include CC, Fordham University, George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, the United States Naval Academy and Wagner College.

The complete All-Tournament Team was:

First Team
Andrew Too-A-Foo - Mercyhurst (goalie)
Marko Sadikovic - Gannon 
Connor Schmitz - Mercyhurst
Carlos Heros - Connecticut
Stephan Cress - Connecticut
Gilberto Millan - Gannon 
Nicholas Willison - Washington & Jefferson

 

Second Team
Zarko Sadikovic - Gannon
Jack Howe - Mercyhurst
Alec Diaz - Mercyhurst
Raheem Brown - Monmouth
Milos Popovic - Salem International
Djordje Stavrevski - Salem International
Brett Rehrer - Gannon (goalie)

 

MVP - Andrew Too-A-Foo (Mercyhurst)

Rookie of the Tournament - Milos Popovic (Salem International University)

Coach of the Tournament - Curtis Robinette (Mercyhurst University)