George Washington Powers By Fordham, 11-8, at CWPA Championship

George Washington University's Bogdan Petkovic scored five times, including three times in the second half, and dished out a pair of assists toas the Colonials defeated the Fordham University Rams, 11-8, in the opening game of the 2014 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship at the United States Naval Academy's Lejeune Hall.
 
In the second meeting of the year between the two teams, George Washington never trailed in the game, grabbing a first quarter lead on Petkovic's first goal, 49 seconds into the opening period.  The Rams equaled the game with 6:38 left in the period as Patrick Reyes found Eric Minowitz, as Fordham cashed in on a six-on-five chance to knot the score and set-up a Colonials' run to take the lead for good.
 
Pierce Deamer put GW in front for good as Brian Mojica hit him with a pass for the go-ahead tally at even-strength with 6:23 left on the first quarter clock.  Mojica pushed the lead to three by the four minute mark as he accepted a pass from Petkovic (4:49) and registered an unassisted tally (4:04) on back-to-back man-up chances to make it 4-1 and put the Colonials in the driver's seat.
 
Fordham trimmed the margin back to a pair as Bobby Wurtz wove his way down the pool to beat GW goalie Conner Dillon for a natural marker at 3:36, but Mojica found Petkovic once again for another goal with 59 seconds left on the quarter clock to make it 5-2 after eight minutes of action.
 
Overall, Petkovic and Mojica dominated the first quarter as the duo both racked up two goals and an assist to power the Colonials' offensive onslaught in the opening frame.
 
The lead grew to 6-2 at the 4:56 mark of the second quarter as Deamer drilled a man-up shot into the back of the cage.  However, Fordham managed to mow the margin back to 6-4 by the halftime horn as Cameron Shewchuck dropped off a pass to Patrick Lenihan, who buried the feed at 1:49 to shrink the spread to 6-3.  Following 99 seconds of scoreless action, the Rams struck again as Minowitz looped in a shot with 10 ticks left on the clock for a two-goal game at the break.
 
Fordham made the Colonials start to sweat midway through the third quarter as Wurtz finished a feed from Andrew Gonzalez at 3:32 to close the gap down to one at 6-5. 
 
Needing a score to keep Fordham at bay, George Washington received a pair of tallies to push the lead back out to three by the conclusion of the third quarter. 
 
Following another unassisted goal by Petkovic, 56 seconds into the fourth quarter to balloon the lead to 9-5, Fordham attempted to start a rally as Minowitz found Davis DeFontes to shrink the spread back to three at 9-6 with 5:32 to play in the fourth quarter.
 
Fordham managed to cut it down to 11-8 by the concluding horn as Ethan Vandeventer and Mike Hay put away consecutive unassisted scores at 2:10 (man-up) and 41 seconds (even-strength).
 
Overall, Fordham outshot GW in the game by a 31-29 margin, but the Colonials were able to convert on four-of-10 man-up chances compared to the Rams' two-for-four performance.
Minowitz was the offensive star for Fordham as he posed two goals and an assist, while Wurtz chipped in a pair of goals. DeFontes, Lenihan, Hay and Vandenter notched goals, while Gonzalez, Reyes and Shewchuck tacked on assists.
 
In cage, Dillon earned the win with nine saves, while LeBeau suffered the loss despite 10 stops.  The Rams continue play at the CWPA Championship on Saturday at 11:30 AM, as they meet Washington & Jefferson.