ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst men's water polo team continued their season against George Washington. Despite there being numerous amount of goals scored from both teams, Mercyhurst fell short with a final score of 17-15.
 
In the first quarter, George Washington quickly scored two goals within the first minute and a half of the game. The Lakers responded with a goal coming from Ben Gavran. The Colonials quickly responded with a goal of their own. A few seconds later, Aiden Botterill got on the board for the Lakers, keeping them in the match. Asher Jones scored for the Lakers, tying the game at three. George Washington then proceeded to score four straight goals to take a 7-3 lead to end the quarter.
 
The Colonials opened the second quarter with three straight goals, extending their lead to seven. Botterill put a halt in that scoring run, putting one on the board for the Lakers. George Washington responded with back-to-back goals, extending their lead. Botterill continued to keep scoring, scoring his third goal of day giving him a hat trick. Declan Puacz got on the board, narrowing the deficit back to seven. With less than a minute to go, Peter Bodoki scored a goal, taking a 12-7 deficit going into the half.
 
Mercyhurst came out of halftime on fire, with Botterill scoring his fourth goal of the game, which would reduce the deficit to four. George Washington quickly responded with a goal of their own. Mercyhurst then went a scoring run of four straight goals. The first came from Gavran. The second came from Caden Stover. The third came from Constantine Romanov. The fourth goal came from Jones. This run allowed the Lakers to narrow the deficit to just one goal. After this run, George Washington put up back-to-back goals, taking a 15-12 lead.
 
Going into the fourth quarter, George Washington opened with a goal, extending their lead to four. Mercyhurst quickly responded, and kept themselves in this match with a back-to-back goals from Botterill. The Colonials quickly got one back, pushing their lead to three. Stover scored his second goal of the game, but the Lakers fell short with a final score of 17-15.
 
The Lakers return to the pool on Saturday, Oct. 10 when they take on Bucknell. Coverage is set to begin at 3 p.m.
 
View the 2026 schedule here.