Saint Francis Stops Johns Hopkins 16-7 to Take 2008 ECAC Championship

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.- No. 1 seed Saint Francis College used an explosive offense to outdistance No. 6 Johns Hopkins University 16-7 and capture the 2008 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship at Harvard Unviersity's Blodgett Pool on September 21.

Stefan Gencic (So., Belgrade Serbia/X Beogradska, Gimnazija) scored a career high five goals and had three assists and three steals to lead the Terriers, while Nemanja Pucarevic (Sr. Belgrade, Serbia/Sportska Gimnaziza) chipped in with four goals as Saint Francis captured its fifth straight ECAC title and the sixth in school history.

On the defensive end, goaltender Nikola Djuric (So., Belgrade, Serbia/IV Belogradska Gimnazija), the 2007 ECAC MVP, was a force between the pipes with seven saves in the championship match.

In the consolation match, Bucknell University held off George Washington University in a 9-8 nail-biter, while Princeton University, Iona College, Brown University and Harvard University rounded out the eight competing teams.

Ranked No. 12 in the nation, the Terriers have won six of the nine ECAC titles, including the last five (2004-08). Last season, Saint Francis downed the United States Naval Academy 8-7 at Bucknell University behind a Most Valuable Player performance by Djuric for the program's fourth title in as many years. Previously, Saint Francis downed Navy (10-9 in 2006 at Brown), Princeton (10-6 in 2005 at Princeton, 15-10 in 2000 at Princeton) and Bucknell (13-7 in 2004 at Harvard) as the Terriers have never finished outside the Top 5 at the ECAC Championship following second (2001), third (2003) and fifth (2002) place finishes.

The tournament, which has always featured at least one of the two teams to advance to the CWPA Eastern Championship later in the season, was a showdown between eight of the 12 best teams in the league according to the September 17 Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 poll.

Seeded based on the teams finishes at the 2007 Eastern Championship won by the United States Naval Academy at Harvard last season, the tournament will featured the CWPA's penultimate tournament's second through seventh place finishers. Princeton University, which failed to qualify for the Eastern Championship a year ago, received the eighth seed for ECACs this year as back-to-back conference champion and NCAA qualifier Navy elected not to participate in the tournament.

Complete Championship Results

#1 St. Francis College (N.Y.) 11, #8 Princeton University 5
#4 Bucknell University11, #5 Brown University 9
#2 George Washington 9, #7 Iona College 7
#3 Harvard University 2, #6 Johns Hopkins 12
#5 Brown University 10, #8 Princeton University 15
#3 Harvard University 10, #7 Iona College 15
#1 St. Francis College (N.Y.) 17, #4 Bucknell University 9
#2 George Washington 9, #6 Johns Hopkins 10

Seventh Place Game:
#3 Harvard University 6, #5 Brown University 14

Fifth Place Game:
#7 Iona College 5, # 8 Princeton University 8

Third Place Game:
#2 George Washington 8, #4 Bucknell University 9

First Place Game:
#1 St. Francis College (N.Y.) 16, #6 Johns Hopkins University 7