ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon men's water polo team earned it's first win of the season on Saturday, defeating Penn State-Behrend by a 21-9 score. Earlier in the day the Golden Knights fell to Notre Dame College 17-10.
After Notre Dame opened the scoring, Gannon responded with two scores from Kyle Lazenby (Erie, Pa. / McDowell) and Tommy Nimrod (Glenview, Ill. / Glenbrook South) to take a 2-1 lead. After each team added a goal, the Falcons netted the final two scores of the quarter to lead 4-3.
Notre Dame exploded for six goals in the second quarter, while holding Gannon to just three. Gannon tied the score at four with a Greg Nelson (Homewood, Ill. / Homewood-Flossmoor) goal before the Falcons scored the matches next three goals.
With Gannon trailing 10-6 at the half, both teams were even with three goals each in the third quarter. Notre Dame put away the match in the fourth by out-scoring Gannon 4-1 in the final minutes of the match. Jacob Ouellette (San Diego, Calif. / Scripps Ranch) scored Gannon's lone fourth-quarter goal.
Daisuke Takagi (Tsukuba, Japan / Namiki) finished with three goals while Nelson and Nimrod added two. Neal Zoellick (Homewood, Ill. / Homewood-Flossmoor) had nine saves in goal for the Golden Knights.
In the second match, Gannon exploded for a season-high 21 goals against Penn-State Behrend, including netting eight scores in the fourth quarter.
After the Lions scored the first goal of the match less than a minute in, Gannon responded with four straight goals to hold a 4-1 lead. Each of the scores came from four different Golden Knights.
Gannon pulled away in the second quarter after out-scoring Notre Dame 7-2. Nelson scored twice during a 5-2 run for the Golden Knights to put the score at 11-4 at the half.
Notre Dame cut in to the lead slightly in the third quarter, holding a 3-2 edge in scoring. However, Gannon's offense got back on track in the fourth quarter out-scoring the Falcons by an 8-6 margin to earn the win.
Nelson finished with five goals in the match, while Takagi, Nimrod and Nathan Bean (Houston, Tx. / Cypress Creek) all added three scores. Nelson also had four assists while Nimrod came up with seven steals. Zoellick recorded five blocks in goal to go along with three assists and two steals.
The Golden Knights now hold a 1-4 record on the year and take to the pool tomorrow morning to take on Washington and Jefferson. The 10 a.m. match will take place at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion.
