BOX SCORE
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The 11th-ranked LMU men's water polo team (9-8, 3-1 WWPA) knocked off #T-19 Brown (14-9, 2-3 NWPC) to open the 2019 Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament hosted by Santa Clara University. The win over the Bears is the lone competition for the Lions on Friday, before two games await Saturday's slate.
Brown opened the game with a goal to take an early lead, but the Lions jumped back to tie the score off a Blazo Mitrovic goal. The Bears scored again, but LMU answered on the ensuing possession with a goal by Alexandros Athymaritis. With 44 seconds remaining in the quarter, Mitrovic added one more for the early 3-2 lead.
The game was tied back up just 14 seconds into the second period, but the Lions scored the only other goal before the end of the half, as Jonny Rimlinger pushed LMU ahead, 4-3, at intermission.
Both offenses were active in the third quarter, scoring a combined 10 goals. Back-to-back goals by Athymaritis followed by a Mitrovic goal pushed the LMU lead to 7-3 with 3:54 on the clocks. The two teams traded goals the rest of the period. With every Brown goal, LMU had a response as Daniel Roth, Rimlinger, and Mitrovic each added another goal to make it a 10-7 advantage with one quarter remaining.
The lead was needed as the Bears continued to remain close. Brown scored on their opening possession of the quarter but another Mitrovic goal pushed the lead back up to three for LMU. After consecutive goals by Brown made it a one-goal game, Rimlinger provided the game-winner with 1:43 on the clock. The Bears added one in the final minute of play, but LMU held on to win 12-11.
The Lions will close out the tournament with a pair of games on Saturday. LMU opens the day against #15 Bucknell at 9 a.m., then has a rematch against (RV) Princeton at 2:20 p.m.. The Lions hosted the Tigers in the So Cal Invitational in September, with LMU taking the game 15-13.
