Goal! Saint Mary’s Hamish Ellison puts the Gaels on the board in their victory over Whittier. / Photo by Tod Fierner for SMC Athletics
Gaels Make a Major Splash: Men’s Water Polo Hosts Program Home Opener with a 20–11 Victory over Whittier
It was a capacity crowd at the Soda Aquatic Center as Saint Mary’s hosted its first Men’s Water Polo match. This also heralds the first home competition for the new SMC Aquatics program.
The Saint Mary's Men’s Water Polo team brought history home on the afternoon of Sunday, September 6 with a 20–11 win over Whittier, marking the program’s first-ever home game and first home victory. The highly anticipated home opener drew excitement from across the Saint Mary’s and Lamorinda communities, with a sold out crowd and standing room only at the Soda Aquatic Center in Moraga.
This was not only the first home match for the new Men’s Water Polo program, but it marked the first home match for Saint Mary’s new Aquatics program, announced last year. The Aquatics program includes Men’s and Women’s Water Polo and Men’s and Women’s Swimming.
On Sunday, the Gaels came out hot and ready to put on a show in their first-ever home game. Hamish Ellison opened the scoring to record the first home goal in program history off an assist from Domenico Barillà. The Gaels continued to apply the pressure, tallying five goals to the Poets’ three in just the first eight minutes of action.
Saint Mary’s continued to exert control in the second quarter: The Gaels found the back of the net seven times and held Whittier to just one, to take a 12–4 advantage heading into the break. Saint Mary’s Federico Castrucci made seven saves in goal, while also recording three steals and a pair of assists before giving way to Griffin Lagsdin for half number two.
Making his first appearance of the season, Jacob Carlson recorded his first goal as a Gael in the third quarter off an assist from Mason Black. The Gaels and Poets each added three goals in the third, sending Saint Mary’s into the final eight minutes with a 15–7 lead. Saint Mary’s finished off the historic afternoon with a 20–11 victory.
Victory By the Numbers
Three different Gaels recorded hat tricks: Mason Black, Rocco Di Rosa, and Hamish Ellison each scored three goals to lead Saint Mary’s offensively. Andrew Donlin led Saint Mary’s with five assists in the victory.
Goalkeepers Federico Castrucci and Griffin Lagsdin combined for 10 saves. Castrucci recorded seven saves, two assists, and three steals, while Lagsdin added three saves and one steal.
Defensively, Mason Black and Rocco Di Rosa joined Castrucci with a team-high three steals each, while Noah Bigara and Hamish Ellison each drew three exclusions. Bigara continues to lead the Gaels with 22 drawn exclusions through seven matches.
Making Waves with a Brand New Program
With the win over Whittier, the Gaels improve to 3–4 overall in their inaugural season. Under the leadership of Coach James Lathrop, Saint Mary’s began this year ranked 20th nationally in the Collegiate Water Polo Association preseason poll.
Saint Mary’s kicked off the season at the Triton Invitational in San Diego, August 25–30. They battled the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos to the finish in their first match before falling 14–16 and then facing tough matches against No. 2 USC, No. 1 UCLA, and No. 7 Long Beach State. Saint Mary’s closed out the tournament with victories over Bucknell and Mercyhurst.
In establishing a Water Polo team here in the epicenter of the San Francisco Bay Area aquatics scene, the Gaels have drawn players who call this area home—as well as from throughout California, from across the United States, and from around the world: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Spain, and Slovenia.
Next Up: Saint Mary’s at the Princeton Invitational
Saint Mary’s continues its exciting inaugural season this week traveling east for the Princeton Invitational, with four games across three days. The action begins on Friday, September 11 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern / 12:30 p.m. Pacific as the Gaels take on Princeton. Watch the game live on ESPN+.
Gaels Win! Saint Mary’s First Home Match
Photos by Dominic Russo and Tod Fierner
