Castorina Saves the Day as George Washington University Plucks Division III No. 10 Johns Hopkins University, 12-8, to Make 2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship Semifinal
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Goalkeeper Luca Castorina (Gr., Catania, Sicily/Liceo Galileo Galilei) made 14 saves to turn back Division III No. 10-ranked Johns Hopkins University by a 12-8 count in the first round of the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship hosted by the United States Naval Academy at Lejeune Hall.
The win advances George Washington (16-8, 12-3 MAWPC) – which has previously taken First (2017, 2018), Second (2016), Third (2021, 2022), Fourth (2020/Winter 2021) and Fifth (2023) at the MAWPC Championship – to a semifinal showdown and another guaranteed Top Four finish at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, November 23, against the winner of the final first round game pitting No. 20/host Navy and Mount St. Mary’s University.
The loss drops Johns Hopkins (11-22, 3-12 MAWPC) – which holds prior Fourth (2016), Fifth (2018), Sixth (2017, 2019, 2023), Seventh (2021) and Eighth (2022) Place marks at the MAWPC Championship – into the consolation side of the bracket as the Blue Jays will take on the fallen from the Midshipmen-Mountaineers meeting at 2:30 p.m. on November 23 in a clash to claim a spot in the championship’s Fifth Place game on Sunday, November 24, at 10:30 a.m.
The 2017 and 2018 MAWPC Champion Revolutionaries led for all but 64 seconds of the game as GW and JHU were scoreless until Leo Lueddemann (Sr., Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) broke the ice with a strike at the 6:56 mark of the first quarter. Andrija Sekulic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/Savremena Gimnazija) followed with a penalty shot at 6:28 to build the margin to 2-0 as George Washington never looked back in rolling to a four-goal victory.
Quint Steffey (Jr., Capistrano Beach, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) put the Blue Jays on the scoreboard at 5:54 to move Johns Hopkins back to within one at 2-1, but Yam Kabakov (Fr., Ramat Gan, Israel/Ohel-Shem) and Sekulic stuffed in scores at 4:26 and 3:40, respectively, to make it a 4-1 contest.
The teams exchanged strikes over the remainder of the opening eight minutes as Alec Baker (So., Redondo Beach, Calif./Chadwick School) converted a man-up chance for Hopkins at 3:03 before Kabakov connected on a five-meter penalty shot with 46 seconds left on the clock to push GW’s margin to 5-2 heading into the second quarter.
Steffey attempted to stymie the Revolutionaries’ roll as the junior deposited a natural score into the cage with 4:39 until halftime to inch Johns Hopkins back to within a pair at 5-3.
The remainder of second quarter/first half was the domain of George Washington, however, as Lueddemann (4:13, man-up), Kai De Orbeta (So., San Juan, Puerto Rico/The Baldwin School of Puerto Rico) (2:07) and Kabakov (1:31, penalty shot) ticked off a trio of tallies to take the lead to 8-3 by the game’s midway point.
George Washington continued to pull away in the first 3:08 of the third quarter as Adonis Vlassis (Jr., Athens, Greece/Lycee Franco-Hellenique Eugene DeLacroix Athens) and Antonio Florena (Fr., Napoli, Italy/Liceo Classico Statale “Umberto I”) swished shots at 5:35 and 4:52, respectively, to construct the margin to 10-3.
Johns Hopkins attempted to rally back as Phillip Long (Fr., Cupertino, Calif./Bellarmine College Prep), Baker and Jason Mihalopoulos (Jr., Las Vegas, Nevada/Bishop Gorman) put away even-strength scoring attempts at 3:57, 3:13 and 2:17, respectively, to chip the Blue Jays’ deficit down to four at 10-6.
Both teams found the back of twine one final time in the third quarter as Vlassis (1:58) and Baker (one second, man-up) lobbed in tries to set the scoreboard at 11-7 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
The Blue Jays and Revs both mustered final blows in the closing moments of the game as Florena (5:20, penalty shot) and Ethan Babel (So., San Francisco, Calif./Menlo School) (12 seconds) cashed in for GW and JHU to help establish the 12-8 final score.
Kabakov led the way for George Washington with three goals, while Sekulic, Vlassis, Lueddemann and Florena notched pairs. De Orbeta slipped in a solo strike in support of Castorina’s 14 save effort.
Baker (three) and Steffey (two) accounted for five of Hopkins’ eight goals with Babel, Mihalopoulos and Long notching single markers. Goalkeeper Kyle Pearson (Sr., Key Biscayne, Fla./Laurel Springs School (Calif.)) stopped 11 shots in suffering the loss.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Division III No. 10 Johns Hopkins University |
2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | 8 |
| George Washington University | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | 12 |
| GW Goals: | Yam Kabakov (3); Andrija Sekulic (2); Adonis Vlassis (2); Leo Lueddemann (2); Antonio Florena (2); Kai De Orbeta | |||||
| JHU Goals: | Alec Baker (3); Quint Steffey (2); Ethan Babel; Jason Mihalopoulos; Phillip Long | |||||
| Saves: | GW – Lucas Castorina (14) ; JHU – Kyle Pearson (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | GW – 13 ; JHU – 14 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | GW – 5-for-14 ; JHU – 1-for-13 | |||||
| Sprints: | GW – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; JHU – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | GW – MV (Andrija Sekulc, 1:51 left in 1st Q); MAM – GW (Antonio Florena, 3:13 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Alex High, Jim Lewis | |||||
Johns Hopkins University’s Quint Steffy (#5) attempts to block a shot by George Washington University’s Rowan Keane (#6)
George Washington University’s Yam Kabakov (#2) & Johns Hopkins University’s Andrew Lee (#17)
George Washington University’s Adonis Vlassis (#10) tries to get a shot off against Johns Hopkins University’s Ian Raley (#11)
