LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College men's water polo team finished the SCIAC Championships with a close win over the University of La Verne 11-10 in the final 30 seconds to finish 5th in the SCIAC rankings.
Whittier moves their record to 11-19 overall and 4-6 in SCIAC play, while La Verne finishes 6-25, 3-7 in SCIAC play. On the season Whittier holds a 2-0 advantage over the Leopards winning the first contest 10-9.
Senior Chet Schuster followed up a strong performance against Occidental yesterday morning where he scored four goals to score the game winner with 22 seconds remaining against La Verne to help Whittier secure the 5th place finish.
Ryan Rock who has stepped into the starting goalie roll over the last half of the season played one of his best games of the season making a key save on a man down situation turning away La Verne in their final possession. He finished the game with 11 saves.
Throughout the game, it remained close as Whittier held a one goal advantage after the first quarter 3-2 thanks to goals by Wes Paulson (2) and Cameron Rehm. During the second quarter Whittier held a one goal advantage but pushed their lead to 7-5 going into the break thanks to Michael Eachus, Carlos Panfilo, Paulson, and Eric Bonander.
Coming out of the break, Whittier continued to play aggressively but came up big on the defensive side of the pool as Whittier added another two goals from Eachus and Panfilo while holding the Leopards to one maintaining a three goal lead 9-6 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, La Verne outscored the Poets 4-2 as they picked up their offensive attack but it wasn't enough as Schuster and Paulson added goals to secure the one goal victory for the Purple and Gold.
Pomona-Pitzer captured the SCIAC Men's Water Championship with a 7-4 win over top-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the first-place match Sunday at La Verne Aquatics Center.
Third-place match: Redlands def. Cal Lutheran 9-6
Fifth-place match: Whittier def. La Verne 11-10
Seventh-place match: Occidental def. Caltech 16-10
Recaps:
http://www.leopardathletics.com/sports/mwaterpolo/2011-12/Releases/20111113c5f8ex
Results/Boxes:
http://www.leopardathletics.com/sports/mwaterpolo/2011-12/Releases/20110427d9h72s
Whittier continues their season this week as they travel to UC San Diego on Nov. 17, 18, 19 where they will take part in the WWPA Championships.
