Terriers Finish Strong Taking 5th Place at Eastern Water Polo Championships

Despite a historic loss to Johns Hopkins on day one of the Collegiate Water Polo Association Men’s Water Polo Championship, the St. Francis Brooklyn men’s water polo team ended the 2015 season on a positive note as the Terriers captured back-to-back victories last weekend over host Massachusetts Institute of Technology and #19 Bucknell to place fifth at Easterns.

According to Ed Haas, CWPA Director of Communications, last Friday’s 7-6 loss to #14 Hopkins—St. Francis’s first ever on the tournament’s opening day of play—ensured the program’s worst finish at the CWPA championship.

The #18 Terriers rallied after the loss, concluding the tournament with a 9-6 win on Sunday, avenging an early season loss to the Bison and guaranteeing them a fifth-straight top 20 ranking.

In the CWPA title game, #11 Princeton defeated Hopkins 7-6 to capture its fifth Eastern title and first since 2011. The Tigers will represent the East in a play-in game on December 3 against UC San Diego for a berth in the 2015 NCAA Final Four.

Finishing with a 17-13 record under first-year head coach Igor Zagoruiko was significant. The Terriers battled adversity all season, closing out the year with four wins in their final six games, including three victories at Easterns. St. Francis Athletic Director Irma Garcia cited the team’s resilience following an 11-6 win over MIT last Saturday.

“The team did a great job considering that they were down [players] all year,” Garcia said. “They played hard [and] played unbelievable defense, especially coming back to win today.”

St. Francis opened its season with 14 players on the roster but finished with just 11—two goalies and nine field players. Mikhail Fedorchenko and Rodrigo Siracusa never suited up while Nicholas Stoop only played a handful of games before injuries ended his season early.

Besides defeating Bucknell, the high point of the St. Francis season was a 12-11 home win over #12 Harvard on a last-second goal by senior set Bora Dimitrov. The Terriers, who wore down as the season wore on, sustained a three match road losing streak at the end of October against Harvard, MIT and Brown that ended any hopes the team had of rising to the top of the Northern Division.

Other bright spots include: 73 goals by Dimitrov, who led the team for a second straight year; 71 goals from junior Ilija Djuretic; and the play of freshman Bogdan Kostic who had a spectacular season with 58 goals and 28 assists.

Following their final match Coach Zagoruiko acknowledged his team’s success.

“It was a pleasure to work at St. Francis with a great group of players,” Zagoruiko said. “They sacrificed their best, especially at this tournament.”

Like this season, Zagoruiko’s roster will again experience a great deal of turnover as he loses five players; however, he now has ample time to recruit.

Of the five graduating Terriers— Dimitrov, Jacob Barashick, Zack Cleveland, Matthew Varela and Liam Veazey—perhaps no one will be missed more than Veazey, team captain the past two years.

“Looking back I’ve really enjoyed the past four years,” the Dallas, Texas native said. “It was a great opportunity to play college water polo at St. Francis, which has a great tradition.”

Speaking about the increase of Texas-born players on Eastern rosters, including his brother Jonas, a freshman for St. Francis, Veazey said: “When I first came to St. Francis, there were one or two other guys [from Texas] now there are eight or nine. To see that change over my four years is incredible.”

Athletic Director Garcia sounded a positive note while pointing to a busy offseason ahead.

“We’re excited for the future. [Coach Zagoruiko] is planning some great things and we’re going to get back on track.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Randazzo for Patch