WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College men's water polo team hosted a tri tournament Saturday, which included Div. I Princeton and Claremont-M-S but came away with two tough losses as they drop to 5-9 on the season.
Game 1 (Princeton – L, 8-6)
Princeton jumped out in front 1-0 on their second possession before Whittier's Filip Delic (Split, Croatia) evened it up at one, which would be the last goal scored in the period.
In the second quarter the Poets rattled off three unanswered from Marko Zuric (Split, Croatia) (2), and Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.) moving in front 4-1. But with 45 seconds to play, Hoffenberg was able to find the back of the goal capitalizing on a man-up situation sending the game into halftime 4-2 in favor of the Purple & Gold.
Out of the break the defenses continued where they left off from the first half, Princeton pulled within one at the 2:03 mark before Goran Mataic (Split, Croatia) was able to put the Poets back up by two connecting from the halfway part of the pool in the final seconds skipping one underneath Tiger keeper Byrne.
In the final frame both teams responded in the early minutes from Hoffenberg and Molthen that moved the score to 6-4 but Princeton would go on a 4-0 run capitalizing on a 5M and an exclusion covering the final five minutes that propelled them to the come from behind victory.
Game 2 (Claremont-M-S – L, 13-12)
In a game that didn't have any SCIAC implications on the line proved to be a Championship bout in itself as both teams went toe to toe to the very end. In front of the Poet faithful the men's water polo team had an opportunity to add the equalizer less than five seconds to play thanks to Douglas Marriott (Hacienda Heights, Calif.) who slipped behind a Stag defender. He had a one on one with the goalie after spinning in the center position but ended up sending his shot high off the crossbar ending all hopes for OT.
After going down early 2-0 the Purple & Gold stormed back to add three themselves from Molthen, Marriot, and Delic. After a Stag goal on their ensuing possession, Whittier once again came down and reclaimed the lead from Nicolas Beavers (Long Beach, Calif.) but not before CMS would add the tying goal with 1:18 to play.
In the second quarter Whittier again went out in front 6-4 thanks to Zuric and Mataic but again CMS responded getting a goal from Lefor. On the next possession however Whittier would draw an exclusion and after a quick 30 second timeout the Poets would once again go back up by two from Delic. But in the final three minutes the Stags did not go away adding the final three goals of the quarter to take an 8-7 lead into the break.
Full game recap and stats to follow
Whittier looks to snap their three game losing streak as they look forward to a doubleheader this Thursday, October 3 when they host Fordham at 12:00pm and Iona in the nightcap at 7:00pm.
