 |  |
Mercyhurst Stuns Gannon 17-16 in Sudden Death Overtime Thriller
ERIE, Pa.
-- The Gannon-Mercyhurst rivalry
has a storied tradition, but there are very few chapters that could
match the one written by the two schools Saturday night before a
packed house at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion.
The men's water polo teams battled through four quarters and two
three-minute overtime sessions, before Alex Moggridge's goal 13
seconds into the sudden-death overtime period sent the visiting
Lakers into celebration with a 17-16 victory.
The first quarter went back and forth as Gannon held a slight 5-4
edge after the first eight minutes. Mercyhurst then controlled the
second quarter, out-scoring the Golden Knights 6-1 to assume a 10-6
halftime advantage. The Lakers held the Knights without a goal for
the final 5:24 of the half while scoring four consecutive
goals.
Head coach Don Sherman's halftime pep talk must
have rallied the troops because Gannon responded with a 5-2 scoring
edge in the third quarter. Dmitriy Simonoff's (Vernon
Hills, Ill./Stevenson) score with 48 seconds left in the
stanza capped the rally and pulled the Golden Knights even at 11.
Moggridge's first goal of the match with one second on the clock
gave the Lakers a 12-11 lead after three periods.
The fourth frame featured three ties. Greg Naranjo (Coral
Springs, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) forged the final deadlock
at 14 with 2:04 left in regulation. Neither team could convert in
the final two minutes, forcing overtime.
Gannon led 15-14 after the first three-minute overtime period on
Stephen Espinet's (Port of Spain, Trinidad/Maple
Leaf) only goal of the match. The Golden Knights still led
late in the second overtime session and had possession of the ball
with a 10-second difference between the match clock and shot
clock. However, the Knights turned the ball over with 24
seconds left on the shot clock. Mercyhurst came down and tied the
contest at 16 with 23 seconds left in overtime.
The visitors won the opening sprint-off of the ensuing
sudden-death overtime session and Moggridge scored the game-winner
on Mercyhurst's first shot 13 seconds into the period.
Simonoff led the Gannon offensive attack with five goals. Naranjo,
John Krakowski (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep), and
Michael Piper (Houston, Texas/Clear Lake) added
hat tricks.
Espinet and Jamison Anton (North Wales, Pa./North
Penn) chipped in one goal each. Neal Zoellick
(Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) recorded 11 saves
between the pipes.
Gannon dropped to 4-5 overall and 2-1 in the CWPA with the tough
loss. Mercyhurst improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in conference
play.
Team (1st - 2nd
- 3rd - 4th - OT - Sudden Death OT - Final)
Mercyhurst (4 - 6 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 17)
Gannon (5 - 1 - 5 - 3 - 2 - 0 - 16)
Gannon Goals
(16)
Dmitriy Simonoff (5)
John Krakowski (3)
Michael Piper (3)
Greg Naranjo (3)
Jamison Anton (1)
Stephen Espinet (1)
Gannon
Goalkeeper
Neal Zoellick - 11 saves
Mercyhurst Goals
(17)
Luis Solis (5)
Kane Ashton (4)
William Page (2)
Alex Moggridge (2)
Adam Borgman (2)
Colin Albue (1)
Gui Alves (1)
Release courtesy Gannon Athletic Communications
