THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Whittier College
men's water polo team split its first two games of the 'Cal
Lu' fornia Invitation before it suffered a last second loss to host
Cal Lutheran in the afternoon's final game to send its record to
1-2 for the day.
The Poets (4-4) cruised to a 9-3 win over Fresno Pacific in the
day's opening game. Casey Regehr led the defensive
effort with 15 saves which includes one on a 5-meter shot. Whittier
held Fresno Pacific scoreless in the third frame and only
surrendered one goal in each the first, second and fourth quarters.
Rilesh Desai put together a solid first game
with a team-high four assists and a pair of steals. Jordan
Van Norman and Alex Perry each added hat
tricks and Van Norman and Brandon Babot each drew
three ejections.
The Poets held a 5-2 lead at the half.
In the second game of the day the purple and gold got down early
and couldn't recover. Cal Baptist jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the
end of the first quarter and held on for the 11-7 win.
Regehr was once again solid in the cage for the Poets as he
stopped 19 shots and added one steal and one assist.
Babot chipped in on the offensive end with three goals and one
assist while Uriel Villa added a pair of scores.
Desai finished with two assists and two steals.
In the final game of the day the Poets were shocked in the final
five seconds as a late Regal score lifted Cal Lutheran over
Whittier in the non-conference tilt.
Cal Lu scored the game's opening goal just 24 seconds into the
contest but Whittier answered back on a Babot strike at 5:20. The
Regals rounded out the first quarter on a 2-0 run to lead 3-1 at
the end of the first frame.
WC was able to even the score before half at 6-6 and clung to an
8-7 advantage through three quarters.
Desai tallied two second quarter goals while Villa, Perry and
Babot all notched one goal. Villa and Perry each added their second
goal of the game in the third quarter.
Van Norman powered the Poets to a 10-8 lead with 2:58 to play in
the game but his third ejection at the 2:39 mark fouled him out of
the game and opened the door for Cal Lu. The home team answered
with three unanswered goals which includes the game winner with
just five seconds left to steal the win for CLU.
Desai finished with two goals, six assists and one steal to give
him a total of 12 assists and five steals for the day.
Regehr finished with 10 saves against Cal Lutheran.
The Poets return to the water next weekend for a two-day
tournament at Santa Clara University. The purple and gold will take
on Redlands and Santa Clara on the first day of the Bronco Invite
on September 26, and round out the tournament with games against
Cal Lutheran and UC Davis on September 27.
