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Mercyhurst Earns No. 1 Seed for 2008 Division II Eastern Championship
BRONX, N.Y. -- Mercyhurst College, the 2007 Division II Eastern Champion, earned the No. 1 seed for the 2008 Eastern Championship at Fordham University on October 25 as the Lakers will look to become the first team to win back-to-back DII Eastern titles.
Gannon University, Queens College and Salem International University earned the No. 2 through 4 seeds.
Already 13-6 on the season after clinching the program’s third straight region title, the Lakers stand one win shy of tying the school record for wins in a season established in 2007 (14).
Mercyhurst is 5-0 against the other Division II teams this year downing Queens College (10-4 W), Gannon University (11-7 W, 13-5 W) and Salem International University (7-6 W, 10-5 W).
The team has been solid on the road this year notching a 5-2 mark in away games and a 5-4 mark in neutral site games.
Two players to watch for the Lakers are Andrew Schonhoff and Andy Sekulski.
The program’s all-time leading scorer, Schonhoff has kept up his torrid pace as entered the season on pace to become the first Mercyhurst player to score 200 goals. In goal, Sekulski is coming off a record-setting season as he became the first freshman to be named to the Division II All-America first team after posting a .559 save percentage with 176 saves.
Gannon University brings a 9-6 overall record and 6-2 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Southern Division, West Region mark into the Division II Eastern Tournament and will look to break into double-digits in victories.
The Golden Knights are 3-2 against Division II competition this year downing Salem International University (7-5 W, 8-1 W) and Queens College (10-9 W), but falling to region rival Mercyhurst College (11-7 L, 13-5 L).
Gannon has been strong on the road this year going 3-0, while recording a 3-4 mark in neutral site games.
A player to watch this weekend is Greg Naranjo who leads Gannon in scoring with 24 goals to go along with 12 assists and 13 steals. Also keep an eye on Richie DiLoreto (21 goals, 8 assists), Michael Piper (16 goals, 14 assists, 20 steals), John Krakowski (11 goals, 10 assists, 12 steals). Dmitriy Simonoff should also play a large factor in Gannon’s title hopes as he has 19 goals and four assists to accompany a team-high 26 steals.
In cage, Darren Stone has appeared in 15 games with 28 steals, 15 assists and 164 saves on 299 shots.
Queens College will look to return to the top of the Division II mountain this year as the Knights will seek to capture their second division title after taking the 2003 championship.
The Knights fought their way through the competition defeating Gannon University (18-10 W) and Mercyhurst College (14-6 W) before casting aside Slippery Rock University (9-6 W) in the title game. Last year, the Knights fell to the Golden Knights of Gannon (12-7 L) before dropping Salem International University (11-4 W) for third place. Queens is 0-2 against Division II opponents falling to both Gannon (10-9 L) and Mercyhurst (10-4 L).
Salem International University returned to the NCAA and the Collegiate Water Polo Association ranks prior to last season as the Tigers men’s and women’s water polo and swimming teams were reinstated after being put on hiatus in 2005-06.
Last year, the Tigers fell to Mercyhurst College (10-1 L) and Queens College (11-4 L) to place fourth at the 2007 Division II Championship. The last time the Tigers squared off in a Division II championship before last season, the team walked away with the title as Salem came back from a loss to Mercyhurst in the first round to knock off Queens (19-7 W) and Gannon University (16-11 W) before stopping Mercyhurst in the title game (22-12) on October 8-9, 2004 at Queens.
In the 2003 Division II tournament, the Tigers placed fourth dropping an opening round game to Slippery Rock University (10-8 L OT) and halting Mercyhurst (16-10 W) before falling to Gannon (10-9 L) in the third place game.
The complete Division II Eastern schedule and hotel information is available on the CWPA website.
