Photo by: Denis Concordel/Widgic.com

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – For the second time in as many outings against the University of Redlands, the Poets fell just one goal short of the win as the Bulldogs held on for the 9-8 victory on Friday morning in the first round of the WWPA Championships.

The Bulldogs, who finished with the best record in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, are now 4-0 on the season against the purple and gold and advance to play top seeded Loyola Marymount University at 3:40 pm.

The Poets will face the loser of No. 3 UC San Diego and No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 10:20 am.

Erick Gonzalez led the offensive charge with three goals which includes the opening score of the contest at 6:38 of the first frame. Wes Paulson added his first of two goals on the morning at the 2:40 mark and Robert Nihei gave the Poets a 3-0 advantage with 25 seconds left in the quarter.

Redlands scored its first goal of the game with nine seconds left before the second quarter to close the gap to 3-1.

The second quarter proved to be the difference as the Bulldogs outscored the Poets 4-0. Whittier's two goal lead turned into a 5-3 deficit at halftime.

Redlands pushed its lead to 6-3 with a goal at 7:10 of the third but Whittier wouldn't go quietly. Gonzalez recorded his second of the game at 4:28 and Rilesh Desai cashed in on his lone goal of the contest just minutes later to keep Poets within striking distance.

The teams traded goals to open the final quarter and with 4:12 left in regulation Redlands led 8-6. Nihei's second goal of the game was sandwiched between a pair of Bulldog scoring strikes.

Redlands capitalized on a Whittier exclusion at 2:05 to take a three-goal, 9-6, lead.

Paulson quickly answered for the purple and gold on the team's next possession and Gonzalez pulled the Poets within one-goal with his final score of the game at the 18 second mark but that was as close as the Poets would get.

Desai added four assists in the loss while Chad Evenrud made 13 saves.