Terrier Report: After Tough Weekend in Princeton, St. Francis Travels to Bucknell
The results from last weekend’s Princeton Invitational at the DeNunzio Pool were decidedly mixed for the St. Francis Brooklyn men’s water polo team. The Terriers came in to play undefeated (2-0) but were trounced by #3 Stanford 17-6, a match that was not as close as the final score. It was part of a 2-2 weekend that saw SFC win two games as expected and drop a close contest to New York City rival Fordham.
Today in Lewisburg, the Terriers will face Mount St Mary’s, a Division I club in only its second year of competition, and Salem, a DII program. Sunday offers a match-up with the host Bison of Bucknell as well as Mercyhurst, who SFC has never lost to (4-0).
Matches are being streamed by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA); the link for streaming can be found here.
Recap from Princeton:
The Stanford match was as expected; in eleven previous match-up, St. Francis has never beaten one of the West’s best. The Cardinal raced out to a 9-0 lead before sophomore Adonis Vlassis notched the Terriers first goal. In that stretch, neither Tyler Abramson, Stanford’s big lefty who is now a graduate student, or Quinn Woodhead, second on the team with 16 goals, scored. Both prospects for the U.S. men’s national team, the fact that these players were not involved in the Cardinal first-half offense—Woodhead scored a meaningless goal late in the match—indicated that Stanford Head Coach John Vargas did not see a threat from St. Francis.
The promising sign for the Terriers was the strong play of junior Baptiste Oliveri, who chipped in two goals, Vlassis—just returned from representing Greece in the FINA Junior World Championships—had a pair while senior striker Dominick Hevesi netted one. Sophomore goalie Manuel Diaz had a good half (considering the opponent) and freshman Josep Jodra Munoz scored a brilliant goal from a tough angle.
Beating Johns Hopkins by six goals (12-6) on Saturday was not surprising; beating George Washington—which as recently as 2018 went to the quarterfinals of the NCAAs—by 5 was. Against the Blue Jays, Hevesi scored five times, while Vlassis and Oliveri each notched two goals and an assist.
Against the Colonials, a late St. Francis surge turned the one-goal lead into a going away win. Hevesi, junior Aleksa Sisakovic and sophomore Paolo Morliere each registered hat tricks in the win.
For Fordham, the flip was switched; St. Francis had a 7-5 lead at the half, but the Rams used a second half surge, and staunch defense in the fourth—when they held the Terriers scoreless—to register a 14-10 victory. Hevesi had five goals—part of a haul of 14 on the weekend—while freshman goalie Branislav Petrovic had nine saves over three quarters. It was Fordham’s fourth-straight victory in a long-time rivalry that saw St. Francis win the previous ten meetings.
The toughest opponent Stanford faced in Princeton? Themselves. Photo: M. Randazzo
Despite the loss to Stanford, Terrier Head Coach Ilija Duretic and Hevesi spoke after the match about facing one of the nation’s best—and lessons learned for a young Terrier squad.
- How is it to go against one of the best teams in the country?
Duretic: This is a great experience for our guys. A lot of them never played any big teams from the West Coast. We have 12 newcomers from last year. Most importantly, what I want them to learn is to have more confidence. The third and fourth quarters was an almost close game—three or four goals game—they just need to get more confidence from this.
- Have you’ve faced Stanford before?
Hevesi: I never have. I was really excited to come here because playing against Stanford is for us once in a lifetime opportunity.
We have a lot of newcomers and are building the team, putting it together. At the beginning we were pretty nervous and didn’t know how to play at this level of water polo, taking some selfish shots. I took some shots I shouldn’t have [because] I was too excited.
In the second half of the game we were able to put up some good attacks. On the defensive side we had some good steals and kickouts.
- In your new coach you have someone who is like you: a strong, consistent scorer who delivered for his teammates when needed.
Hevesi: [Our] coach has a lot of experience. He was one of the best players from the St. Francis program and we have a lot to learn from him. I feel we have already got a bit of his playing style.
But we have a lot to improve [on] throughout the season until the conference games.
- Princeton has an Olympic quality facility—one very different from what your practice in at St. Francis. How important is it to your squad to play early season deep-deep pool matches prepare you for away contests against your biggest NWPC rivals?
Duretic: This is the best possible preparation for us, especially [given] our pool is pretty small. This is something we need because all the championship games will be played in a big pool. Early in the season to play one of the best college teams in the world will help my guys to understand [that] something bigger is possible: to go to NCAA Final Four and again play this team and hopefully play like the second half of the game we played.
Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium—one of the finest pools on the East Coast
Scouting the opposition at the Bison Invitational:
Bucknell (3-5); despite a slow start, the Bison are still considered favorites to return to NCAAs for a third straight year and the fourth time in the past six years. With Josh Yardley (25 goals), Hasan Mogultay (15 goals), Andu Vlasceanu (13 goals) and goalie Adrien Touzot returning from the 2020 squad that represented the East last spring in the abbreviated national championship, Head Coach John McBride has enough experience and depth to capture the MAWPC title. This match—at 12pm Sunday—will be the biggest test for the Terriers this weekend.
[Navy, Fordham Seek to Knock Bucknell from MAWPC Throne]
Mercyhurst (0-5) is led by seniors Michael Gutman, Mathieu Davis and Nash Greeven in goal as well as junior Derek Kagan, . The biggest obstacle for the 2021 Laker season is to overcome the loss of Head Coach Curtis Robinette, who passed away in August following a long struggle with cancer. In four chances Mercyhurst has never beaten St. Francis; the closest contest came in the 2012 Eastern Championships when the Terriers eked out a 12-11 win.
[Curtis Robinette Memorial Service]
Mount St. Mary’s (2-5) is led by sophomores Jason O'Donnell (30 goals) and Zach Fischer (9 goals) as well as seniors Eli Thalos (14 goals) and Marko Kruska (83 saves). The Mount has won seven times in the program’s brief history and has never played—or beaten—a Northeast Water Polo Conference opponent, or any Division I opponent. Against the Mid Atlantic Water Polo Conference the previous three years (2017-19), the Terriers are 11-8.
[Five Questions with Alyssa Diacono, Mount St. Mary’s Head Coach]
A pair of precocious freshmen are leading Salem (1-3). Nikola Krstonosic (17 goals) and Ivan Zivojinovic (6 goals, 6 assists) are providing much of the Tiger offense, with graduate student Petar Leontijevic (7 goals, team-high 8 steals) providing experience. The only time the two teams met, in September 2016—also at the Bison Invitational—St. Francis came away with a 22-12 win.