ERIE, Pennsylvania - It was an outstanding day for our Salem Tiger men's water polo team. Our boys faced off against two NCAA Division I schools – Bucknell and Johns Hopkins University. For the first time since 2005, the Tigers came away with a win against Johns Hopkins as they dominated the game from start to finish to earn the overall score of 18-15. Although they fought hard, their luck was not the same in their first game against Bucknell, which they lost 8-15.  

Bucknell 15, Salem 8

This morning's game against Bucknell Bisons saw the Tigers off to a slower start trailing the Bison's 3-7 at half time. The Tigers rallied, winning the last quarter 4-3. Despite their efforts, this was not enough to make up the gap from the first three quarters and the men took an 8-15 loss. Despite the score, there were some great performances in the pool. First of all from Goalkeeper Duarte Costa who came away with an impressive 13 total saves. Nikola Krstonosic tallied 3 goals and 3 assists for a total of 6 points. Chad Rowley added 2 goals for the Tigers.

Salem 18, Johns Hopkins 15

The Tigers came out with far more intensity in the second game, diminishing Johns Hopkins hopes of a win early. The score after the first half was 8-3 to the Tigers. Their opponents did not give up easily however as they matched the Tigers pace in the second half scoring 12 goals to the Tigers 10. Fortunately, this was not enough to put Johns Hopkins in the lead and the final score read 18-15 to Salem. Chad Rowley had a stand out game tallying 7 goals, 2 steals and 4 field blocks. Ivan Zivojinovic and Nikola Cvetkovic added 3 goals a piece. Triston McKay and Manuel Soto Estela scored 2 goals each and Marko Zivojinovic added 1 goal to the board.  

This game was a reflection of strong team work and vigour from our men's side and should have them in good standing for tomorrow's game against George Washington University at 1pm.