Monmouth's men's water polo team wrapped up last weekend's Washington and Jefferson Tournament taking a major step forward in preparation for this weekend's Division III Championships.

      The Scots rebounded from an 0-2 start on Saturday to post a convincing 16-10 win over Penn State-Behrend in Sunday's opening match. Raheem Brown scored two of his team-high seven goals in the first quarter to spark Monmouth to a 4-1 lead. Entering the third quarter with a 10-4 lead, the Scots put five more scores on the board – three from Brown – to put the game out of reach.

      Monmouth ended the weekend with a hard-fought 15-12 loss to Connecticut College. The Camels jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead after one quarter before the Scots rallied. Trailing 10-5 in the third period, Monmouth's defense held Connecticut College to one goal and closed the gap to 11-9 as four different Scots tallied goals. The Camels responded with a pair of unanswered scores to open the final quarter, but the Scots again pulled within two on goals by Brown and Matt Engebretsen. Connecticut then held off the Scots in the final minutes.

      Sunday's games were in stark contrast to Saturday's openers, an 18-10 loss to Washington and Jefferson and a 24-13 defeat at the hands of Salem International.

      The Presidents used a fast start to sink the Scots, scoring seven first quarter goals and building an 11-5 lead by halftime. W&J maintained that margin throughout the second half to hand the Scots an opening game loss.

      Monmouth kept pace with Salem in the first quarter of Saturday's second game, trailing 4-3 after the opening frame. The Scots found scoring hard to come by in the middle two quarters, being outscored 15-8 in the middle periods. The Tigers then put the game away with a 5-2 four quarter advantage.

      The Scots travel to Bridgeport, Pa., this weekend for the Division III Championships, opening with Penn State-Behrend and then facing MIT in the second round of pool play.