WHITTIER, Calif. – The Stags of Claremont-M-S earned their way to yet another SCIAC Men's Water Polo Championship as they upset the No. 1 seeded Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer 16-8 at the Lillian Slade Aquatic Center.
The rest of the schedule on Day 3 for the SCIAC Championships included:
Game 1 (Chapman def. Occidental 20-13)
The first game on the day included both Chapman and Occidental who played for 7th place. Chapman used a six goal effort in the third quarter en route to the 20-13 victory over the Tigers. Chapman's Troiano added four goals in the first quarter helping the Panthers hold a one goal advantage after one. Chapman continued their offensive presence and found the back of the goal five more times in the second quarter helping them take a 10-6 lead going into the half.
Coming out of the half, Occidental's offense stalled, while their defense continued to try and find a way to stop the high powered offense of CU as Alvarado led the way with two goals in the six goal frame. Despite the lopsided margin in the third, the Tigers came out on all cylinders in the fourth and outscored Chapman 6-4 led by Stabenfeldt who registered three goals but it wasn't enough as CU held on for the seven goal victory.
Game 2 (Redlands def. La Verne 11-4)
In the 5th place game it was all Redlands as they totaled 11 goals with five coming in the first half and six coming in the second. The first quarter was played tightly as the Bulldogs managed to squeak out two goals both coming from Freeman who totaled a game high five goals. In the second quarter, La Verne found their offense despite being down 3-0 to pull within three going into the break. But the momentum shifted back to Redlands in the second half as they totaled six goals compared to La Verne's two helping them clinch the lopsided victory. The Leopards were led on offense by Jarvis who tallied two goals.
Game 3 (Cal Lutheran def. Whittier 12-11)
In a contest that had 3rd place implications in the SCIAC Standings. Cal Lutheran stepped up to the occasion and knocked off the Poets who were seeded a spot ahead of them to grab third place despite losing an earlier contest during the regular season. At the end of the day both Cal Lutheran and Whittier were tied in points due to them splitting on the season and due to the Kingsmen winning during the SCIAC Championships that gives them the three spot in the SCIAC Rankings.
The game went back and forth with neither team able to take a sizable advantage. Whittier and Cal Lutheran played to a 3-3 tie after one thanks to Hamaker capitalizing off of an ejection in the final 30 seconds of the quarter. Whittier's Michael Eachus, Douglas Marriott, and Kyle Catino registered the goals.
Coming out in the second, both teams continued to play strongly on both ends of the pool. Whittier and Cal Lutheran swapped goals early from Goran Mataic and Hamaker before the Poets' Justin Pratt connected on his first score of the contest to put the Purple & Gold up by one. That lead would soon relinquish as the Kingsmen' Franklin tallied the equalizer at the 2:17 mark. Closing out the quarter CLU felt they had a lead going into the half but Whittier's Cameron Rehm evened the game up once again at 7-7 with a last second goal capitalizing off of an exclusion.
The second half started with both teams swapping goals once again until CLU tallied back to back goals to go out in front by two 10-8. After a Mataic goal pulled the Poets within one Hamaker connected on his fourth goal of the contest to move the Kingsmen back to a two goal lead entering the final quarter.
In the final quarter of play, it turned into a defensive standoff as a combined three goals were scored. Despite two late goals from Whittier to cut the deficit to one, they were unable to make it three in a row as Mataic' final shot was saved by Kingsmen Keeper Matt Baerg, helping CLU escape with the one goal victory.
Game 4 (Claremont-M-S def. Pomona-Pitzer 16-8)
In a much anticipated match-up between the Stags and Sagehens, the Stags got the upper hand right from the get go, getting a large lead and maintaining it throughout helping them earn yet another SCIAC Championship Title. The Stags were led by freshman Cullen who registered a game high six goals, while the Sagehens saw Gaut tally four of his own.
CMS got the momentum early as they added two quick goals but saw Pomona-Pitzer rally back to cut the deficit to one after one quarter of play. The second quarter was where the momentum shifted back in the Stags favor as they totaled four goals all coming at the start of the quarter prior to the Sagehens stopping the run with a Gaut goal at the 2:31 mark.
Coming out of the half, the Sagehens answered with four goals but every time they scored the Stags would be there to answer with a goal of their own keeping an advantage after three. In the final frame, the Stags wrapped up their Championship run outscoring the Sagehens 3-1 and holding the high powered Sagehen offense to a mere eight goals.
The SCIAC All-Tournament Team will be posted shortly.
