Loyola edges St. Joe in dramatic MIAA water polo championship match
The Dons bounced back from two straight years of disappointment, while denying the Gales their first crown in a one goal classic
by Derek Toney
Moments after the final buzzer sounded in the 2024 MIAA water polo title game Saturday evening, Loyola Blakefield players and coaches made the celebratory plunge into the pool inside McDonogh School’s aquatic center.
Two years of disappointment finally was washed away for the Dons, who defeated Mount St. Joseph, 18-17. Senior Dominic Feracci scored eight goals for Loyola (9-3 overall), and Ben Faris added four.
The Dons needed every ounce of their championship game experience to end Mount St. Joseph’s bid for history, claiming their first crown since 2021.
Loyola lost in the 2023 and 2022 finals. The Dons’ title breakthrough came as the tourney’s No. 3 seed which previously happened in 2012 (McDonogh).
Loyola coach Gordon Amato said another runner-up effort Saturday wasn’t an option.
“We played a lot of games and these guys have really learned to work together as a team,” said Amato. “They showed their brotherhood tonight. Determination and perseverance got these boys through tonight.”
“We’re really a family unlike in years past,” said Ferraci, who was the Greg Hallisey Award recipient as the game’s Most Valuable Player.
The Dons’ resolve was tested Thursday against Gilman, which defeated them in the past two finals. Down 6-1 after the first quarter, Loyola stormed back for a 20-14 victory to end Gilman’s reign.
Saturday, Loyola outlasted Mount St. Joseph (6-7) in a physical match that featured four penalty shots. The Dons, usually slow starting, raced out to a 5-1 advantage before the Gaels closed to 7-6 at halftime, and trailed, 12-11, late in the third quarter.
The Dons ran off five unanswered goals, highlighted by senior goalie Nick Oakley’s heave into the corner of Mount St. Joseph’s net as the third buzzer sounded, giving them a 17-11 advantage with 5 minutes, 11 seconds left in regulation.
But the Gaels, looking to become the first No. 4 seed to win a MIAA water polo crown, didn’t relent. Mount St. Joseph trailed 18-16 after Will Malone goal with 2:19 to play before Davis Dziuban made it a one-goal match with 22 seconds remaining.
The Dons ran out the remaining time and the proverbial clock struck midnight on the Gaels’ Cinderella-esque run. Senior captain Matthew Won finished with six goals for Mount St. Joseph, which knocked off top-seed Calvert Hall College, 12-11, in Thursday’s semifinals.
“It took us a little while to get going honestly…they did a really nice job coming together as a team the last two weeks,” said Gaels’ longtime coach Patrick Underwood. “We had a few come-to moments and that turned things around.”
Amato, who played on Mount St. Joseph’s first water polo team as a senior in 2001, said the pieces fell into place in his third season at Blakefield.
“This year it felt like what I was selling the boys were buying,” said Amato. “They trusted me and what the coaches had to say. We did three different tournaments, play seven games in six days. These guys have been through the gauntlet...it helped them grow as a team and trust each other.”
The payoff wasn’t lost on senior Charlie Kunkel, who stared at the championship plaque in his hands Saturday evening.
“I’m just proud to leave a legacy behind,” said Kunkel. “I think we worked so hard this year and future generations will look to this and work just as hard and fight for the brotherhood we’ve built this year.”