LA VERNE, Calif. - The Whittier College men's water polo team rebounded from its first loss of the season to No. 5 Loyola Marymount on Saturday morning with a 1-1 record at the Inland Empire Tournament at the University of La Verne on Sunday afternoon. The Poets cruised to a 12-6 win Occidental and dropped a 9-5 decision to NAIA Concordia (Calif.).

Whittier (3-2) jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after one quarter against its Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival. The purple and gold tacked on one more goal in the second frame to hold a 5-3 advantage over the Tigers at the intermission.

WC put the game away in the third quarter with a six goal effort.

Alex Perry led the charge against Oxy with a team-high three goals. Two more transfers, Rilesh Desai and Uriel Villa, each tacked on two goals and combined for five assists.

A total of eight different players scored at least one goal against the Tigers.

Jordan Van Norman and Chet Schuster each drew two ejections for the Poets.

Senior All-American goalie Casey Regehr came away with 19 saves against Occidental.

In the nightcap of the twin bill the Poets got down early and could not recover. Concordia held the purple and gold scoreless in the first quarter and went into the break with a 5-1 lead.

Whittier managed four goals in the second half but it wasn't enough in the four-goal defeat.

Van Norman added a pair of goals to take his total for the day to three. Villa and Perry each tacked on a goal in the loss and Lincoln Haley notched one of his two goals on the day against Concordia.

The Poets had assists on three of their five goals. Desai led the charge with two assists to take his total for the day to five.

Regehr came away with 11 saves which includes three saves each in the first, second and fourth quarter.

Whittier returns to the pool next Saturday, September 19, at the Cal Lutheran Invite. WC takes on Fresno Pacific at 8 am and Cal Baptist at 1:15 pm.