LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College men's water polo team got underway with Day 2 of the Inland Empire Classic as they took on Long Beach State and SCIAC Rival Occidental College.
Game 1 (Long Beach State) – L 11-4
The Poets (2-3) began the day taking on their second Div. I school in as many days as they played the forty-niners of Long Beach State. In the first quarter the purple and gold got down early 3-1, with the lone goal coming from senior captain Chet Schuster. In the second quarter, the Poets got another two goals from sophomore Asante Sefa-Boakye but the 49ers managed to get five of their own to make the score 8-3 going into the half.
As the third quarter got underway, the defense stepped up from both squads as the 49ers only managed one goal while Whittier was held scoreless. Then in the final quarter, the Poets managed one more goal from John Adams but it wasn't enough as the 49ers went on to win 11-4. Senior Chad Evenrud in goal collected 10 saves for the game.
Game 2 (Occidental) – W 9-7
In the second game, the Poets were fired up to play their SCIAC rival in the Tigers of Occidental College. In the first quarter the Tigers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and then built that lead up to 3-0 heading into the half.
Coming out of the intermission, the purple and gold came out to score five unanswered goals as they took the lead 5-4 thanks in large part to a team barrage of goals by Keary Schlactus, Carlos Panfilo, Schuster, Kyle Catino, and Wes Paulson.
Entering the final period, the Poets managed to stay on top as they tacked onto their lead three more goals from Panfilo, Paulson, and Erick Gonzalez, while senior goalie and 2nd Team All-American Evenrud finished the game with 10 saves to keep Occidental at bay and obtain their second win of the season 9-7.
The Poets return to the pool as they travel to San Diego, Calif. to take on the Tritons of UC San Diego who come into the season ranked No. 2 in the WWPA polls on September 16 beginning at 10:00am. Immediately following they will take on Navy @ UCSD beginning at 1pm.
