Regional Tournament Information
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Date: Saturday/Sunday, October 19-20, 2007
Game Schedule:
| Opponent | Score |
| Delaware | PSU 18 Delaware 9 |
| University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania 11, PSU 10 (3 OT) |
| Slippery Rock | PSU 9 Slippery Rock 8 |
Other Information:
The Penn State men’s water polo team finished 3rd in last weekend’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship held at Villanova University. The Nittany Lions came into the tournament ranked 2nd in the Western Division, and faced the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania in their first two tournament games. Penn State opened the tournament strong, with 7 quick goals in the first quarter against Delaware. The Lions and their dominating defense held the Blue Hens scoreless in the first half, and eventually coasted to an 18-9 victory.
One win away from playing for the championship, the Lions faced the undefeated University of Pennsylvania; the top-ranked team from the Eastern Division. Penn State got out to another quick start, but the Quakers kept the game within reach. Penn State had a one-goal lead late in the fourth quarter, but a quick steal and fast break goal tied the game with 1 second to go. As the clock ran out, the two teams headed into overtime, which was as back-and-forth and exciting as the first 4 quarters. Each team added a goal, but the score remained tied 10-10 after two 3-minute periods of overtime play. The two periods were followed by sudden death overtime. Both teams, exhausted after a grueling 37 minutes of water polo, couldn’t add a goal in the first sudden death period. The Quakers were finally able to cash in the second sudden death period on 2-on-1 fast break which ended the wild game, and eliminated Penn State’s championship hopes.
The Lions remained focused and determined to finish the tournament strong, playing Slippery Rock University for 3rd place. The Lions once again came out strong against Slippery rock, who had beaten Penn State twice in two regular season games. Slippery Rock was ranked 1st in the Western Division, and would be no easy task for the Lions. With a strong team performance, Penn State had a one-goal lead with seconds to go in the game. With thoughts of how the previous game ended fresh in their minds, Penn State had a strong defensive stance to stop Slippery Rock on the final possession of the game, and was able to hold on to the ball to seal the victory.
Penn State finished 11-3 on the season and 3rd in the Mid-Atlantic region. The team was lead by freshman Andrew Bauman’s 37 goals and sophomores Mitch Palski and Nate Mensch’s 24 assists and 19 steals respectively. The Lions will return 6 starters on next year’s team and look to be strong and make another run at a championship.