Photo by: Davis Gerber/www.facebook.com/wcsportsphotography
REDLANDS, Calif. - The Whittier College men's water polo team after going 2-1 on their opening day of competition faced off against tough opposition this past weekend as they took Division I opponents UCLA, USC, Long Beach State, and UC Santa Barbara.
Game 1 (UC Santa Barbara – L, 16-7)
In the first game of the Inland Empire Classic, UCSB jumped out to an early lead at the 7:51 mark. Whittier however responded with a goal from Filip Delic (Split, Croatia) that evened the game at one. After back to back goals from the Gauchos, Whittier's Goran Mataic (Split, Croatia) added the second goal for the Purple & Gold that closed out the first frame.
In the second, Whittier was able to tally another two goals from Nicolas Beavers (Long Beach, Calif.) and Justin Pratt (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) but they still faced a four goal deficit at the break. Coming out of the break Whittier added a quick strike from Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.) but the Gauchos managed to add three in a row to extend their lead to 11-5. Closing out the period, Pratt added his second goal of the game to pull the Poets within five after three quarters of play but again UCSB would close out the final period on a 5-1 run pulling off the 16-7 victory. The final Poet goal was from Beavers, his second of the game.
Game 2 (UCLA – L, 27-2)
In the second game of the tournament, the Poets ran into the very tough UCLA Bruins who held the Poets to just two goals both coming in the final quarter from Delic and Mataic. The offense for the Bruins was led by C. Reynolds, P. Reynolds, D. McClintick, A. Barabino, and C. Mirachi who each added three goals apiece.
Game 3 (Long Beach State – L, 13-3)
In the second day of action the Poets matched up against Long Beach State and again were held to under five goals. Two of their three goals came in the first quarter from Beavers and Mataic and their last goal came in the second from Beavers. But after that the Poets were held scoreless in the second half allowing the 49ers to add seven goals en route to the 13-3 victory.
Game 4 (USC – L, 21-4)
In the final game of the tournament, Whittier matched up against the Trojans of USC. Whittier jump started the scoring with an early goal on their first possession from Mataic capitalizing off of an SC exclusion. But after that USC rattled off 14 unanswered that stretched into the third quarter, where Whittier was finally able to stop the run with a goal from Delic at the 4:47 mark.
After two quick goals from the Trojans in the ensuing two minutes Whittier managed to grab the final strike in the frame adding their third goal from John Brown (San Diego, Calif.).
In the final quarter, USC added another five goals, while Whittier tallied one more from Beavers but it wouldn't be enough to overcome the 21-4 deficit.
The Poets look to jump back into the win column as they travel to the Lancer Invitational this coming Friday and Saturday, September 20-21 when they take on Cal Baptist (20th @ 12:15pm), La Verne (20th @ 4:00pm), Redlands (21st @ 9:00am), and Chapman (21st @ 3:15pm).
