Bahamian collegiate water polo players Saequon Miller, Nicholas Wallace-Whitfield and Aidan Johnson continued their seasons this past weekend, playing in some tough matches.
Miller and Johnson were at the same event – the Penn State Behrend Invite at the Junker Center Pool in Erie, Pennsylvania. Wallace-Whitfield and the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers were at the Gary Troyer Tournament on the west coast in Claremont, California.
In the east, Miller and the Salem University Tigers, and Johnson and the Washington & Jefferson Presidents played each other on Saturday. Miller got bragging rights over Johnson as the Tigers won that game, 18-14. Neither player scored in this game. The Tigers used a 7-2 second quarter advantage to take a slim 9-8 lead, before putting four more goals at the back of the net to take a 13-9 lead after three quarters.
The Tigers finished the event with a perfect 3-0 win/loss record to improve their overall record to 7-6 on the season and 2-2 in their conference. They took down the host school Penn State Behrend, 22-18. Miller scored two goals in the first quarter and two more in the fourth quarter to finish with four goals in that contest. In the lone game on Sunday, Miller and his squad took down Cornell University, 25-18. He scored one goal in the first and another in the second for the double. He scored six goals in total over the weekend.
The Tigers return to the pool this weekend, playing at the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Crossover at the Aquatic Center at Myland Park in Morgantown, West Virginia.
The loss to Miller and the Tigers was the only loss the Presidents suffered as they finished the weekend event 2-1. The Presidents got started with a 14-6 victory over the host school. They ended the weekend with a 13-11 victory over Mercyhurst University. Johnson netted his lone goal in the first quarter in that game.
The Presidents sport a 7-5 overall record and a 2-3 conference record. The regular season is over for them and they will now prepare to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Championships that gets underway on October 22.
At the Gary Troyer Tournament, Wallace-Whitfield and the Mountaineers split their weekend with a 2-2 record. They opened the tournament with a close 19-17 loss to Chapman University. The Mountaineers then went on to win their next two games, against Biola University and the University of La Verne. In the Biola match, they won 11-9 and took advantage with a 24-13 victory over La Verne.
Wallace-Whitfield performed at his best in the last game as he scored his only goal of the weekend in a 25-12 loss for his team to the NCAA Division II number 16 nationally ranked California Baptist University.
The Mountaineers played against Johns Hopkins University last night in Baltimore, Maryland, but no score was available up to press time.