Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Being invited to the SoCal Tournament this weekend, the Whittier College men's water polo team found themselves immersed in a field of the top Division I programs in the country.
The field included No. 15 Air Force Academy, No. 3 UC Berkeley, No. 16 Loyola Marymount, No. 5 Long Beach State, No. 7 Pacific, No. 12 Pepperdine, No. 10 Princeton, No. 20 St. Francis Brooklyn, No. 2 Stanford, No. 11 UC Davis, No. 9 UC Irvine, host No. 1 UCLA, No. 8 UC San Diego, No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, and No. 4 USC.
Whittier came in ranked No. 18 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Polls but dropped both contests on day of the tournament falling 16-3 to No. 3 UC Berkeley and 14-10 to No. 11 UC Davis.
Game 1 (UC Berkeley; L, 16-3)
UC Berkeley held the Poets scoreless in the first quarter going out in front 3-0. Whittier would find their offensive spark in the second to pull within one 3-2 following quick goals from Marko Zuric (Split, Croatia) and Goran Mataic (Split, Croatia).
They would add their third later in the frame from Mataic but that would be the last goal scored for the Purple & Gold as the golden Bears would add five more before the half en route to scoring eight in the second.
In goal senior Ryan Brunansky (Poway, Calif.) would collect five saves, while Golden Bear keeper Lazar Andric would total 10.
Game 2 (UC Davis; L, 14-10)
In the afternoon contest, the Poets looked to avenge their 16-12 loss to UC Davis during the Aggie shootout back on September 28.
The Aggies led 4-1 after the first quarter and then 10-5 at the break. Whittier would add another four in the second half and would pull within three 12-9 in the fourth but that's as close as they would get as UC Davis would escape with the win.
Mataic added the lone goal in the first quarter. Massimiliano Mirarchi (Rome, Italy), Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.), Zuric, and Filip Delic (Split, Croatia) would add second quarter goals.
Mataic would add another two in the third and would combine with Mirarchi to add another two in the fourth to round out the scoring.
Brunansky would collect six saves.
Whittier returns to action for their final two non-conference games tomorrow, Sunday, October 12 when they take on No. 16 Loyola Marymount at 9:15am before taking on either No. 20 St. Francis Brooklyn or No. 15 Air Force in the afternoon.
