Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College men's water polo team wrapped up one their play in the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament Saturday evening capping off an impressive tournament where they went 2-2 getting wins over No. 17 George Washington and Washington & Jefferson, while dropping tight contests to No. 7 Long Beach State and No. 10 Loyola Marymount.
Game 1 (W, No. 17 George Washington – 11-9)
Whittier opened up the tournament in impressive fashion upsetting No. 17 George Washington who they were 1-1 against over the past two years with each match-up being by just a single goal differential.
Whittier looking for the upset jumped out in front 5-0 from four different players, Filip Delic (Split, Croatia), Kyle Catino (San Juan Capistrano), Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.), and Douglas Marriott (Hacienda Heights, Calif.), and Roman Novak (Almaty, Kazakhstan). But the Colonials didn't go away adding their first two goals to finish off the first quarter.
Opening up the second the Poets continued with their offensive onslaught adding two more from Delic that increased their lead to 7-2. Then to wrap up the first half the Poets edged out the Colonials 3-2 to take a 10-4 advantage into intermission. The three goals came from Marriott, Molthen, and Goran Mataic (Split, Croatia).
After back to back exclusions to open the third the Colonials found the back of the goal three times to cut the Poet lead to three 10-7 but WC managed to tally one late goal from Julian Droetti (Irvine, Calif.) that gave the Poets some momentum heading into the final quarter.
Then in one final push the Colonials managed to hold the Poets scoreless in the entire fourth, while adding two themselves but it wouldn't be enough as the Poets would hold on for the two goal victory.
Game 2 (L, No. 7 Long Beach State- 10-6)
In the nightcap on day one of the tournament the Poets faced off against the No. 7 Long Beach State 49ers a team they lost to 13-3 during the Inland Empire Classic. This time around though the Poets matched up well.
The 49ers jumped out to an early lead 2-0 after the first quarter of play, which included a last second shot with time expiring. Opening up the second the Poets tallied their first goal from Nicolas Beavers (Long Beach, Calif.) before the 49ers would close out the half on a 2-1 run with the Poets final goal coming from Mataic with five seconds to play.
Out of halftime LBSU added the first two goals to increase their lead to 6-2 before Marriott would pull the Poets within three with a goal at the 4:31 mark. Wrapping up the third quarter both teams added two goals apiece with WC getting theirs from Delic and Beavers pulling the Poets within four.
In the final quarter Whittier managed to add one more from Marko Zuric (Split, Croatia) to once again pull within four but it wouldn't be enough as Whittier would fall 10-6.
Game 3 (W, Washington & Jefferson 14-6)
On day two of the tournament the Poets faced off against Washington & Jefferson ranked No. 10 in the Division III CWPA Polls. Whittier jumped out in front 2-0 behind goals from Marriott and Beavers. After a man up goal from Washington & Jefferson the Poets went on a 3-0 run to close out the first quarter getting goals from Hunter Pelletier (Miami, FL), and Kurt Holzmuller (Brentwood, Calif.) going up 5-1.
Opening up the second quarter W&J added back to back goals to pull within two 5-3 but WC responded with two of their own from Beavers and Christian Sook (Hanford, Calif.) to again go back up by four. With 1:33 to play in the half W&J would tally one more from Willison that brought them back within three at the break.
Out of the break the Poets jumped out quickly adding back to back to back goals from Droetti, Marko Miocic (Split, Croatia), and Beavers to push their lead to 10-4 before W&J would add one final goal with 4:27 to play to pull within five.
In the fourth W&J would add the first goal to pull within four but that's as close as they would get as Whittier would add the final four goals from Droetti, Shane Feldman-Scarr (San Diego, Calif.), and Tucker Vejsicky (Irvine, Calif.) that helped propel WC to the 14-6 victory.
Game 4 (L, No. 10 Loyola Marymount 11-10 Sudden Death OT)
In the final game of the tournament the Poets gave LMU a run for their money while giving the fans in attendance an exciting final game that went to Sudden Death.
Whittier struck first at the 4:38 mark from Zuric and then samw LMU tally two goals themselves to take their first lead of the game. But Novak would come down with 19 seconds to play and add the equalizer that sent the game into the second all knotted up.
Opening up the second LMU and WC swapped goals before the Lions would add their fourth goal with 2:59 to play, which would send the score into halftime 4-3.
Whittier jumped out in front quickly in the third adding three goals and regaining the lead 6-4 thanks to Delic, Justin Pratt (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Novak. But LMU would soon answer with two of their own to tie the game up at six before Zuric would send the Purple & Gold into the fourth up 7-6 with his second goal of the game.
In the final quarter Whittier added two goals from Catino and Beavers but the Lions were able to force overtime adding the final two goals of the quarter at the 1:10 mark and in the final second of regulation.
Playing the two three-minute overtime periods, the Lions jumped out first with a goal in the first overtime. In the second, Whittier answered half way through from Erick Gonzalez (Commerce, Calif.) to force the sudden death OT but in the end LMU would add the eventual game winner coming on a 6-on-5 attack.
Whittier returns to the pool as they open up Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Play as they host La Verne Wednesday, October 16 beginning at 7:00pm.
