Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College men's water polo team continues to add to their already impressive season as they keep their winning streak intact at nine games following a 14-10 victory over the Leopards of the University of La Verne Saturday.
With the win the Poets finish the regular season with a 20-12 overall record, while going a perfect 8-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play.
They have grabbed the No. 1 overall seed for the second straight year in the SCIAC Championships and have now won a record breaking 16 straight SCIAC games dating back to October 26, 2013. In their past 20 conference games dating back to last year they have won 19 of them and finish the regular season No. 1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Polls (CWPA) for the second consecutive year and the fourth overall in the program's history.
Goran Mataic (Split, Croatia) and Marko Zuric (Split, Croatia) put the Poets in front 2-0 early. Following a WC penalty, La Verne would get on the board but Zuric would respond again with his second score 13 seconds later.
Massimiliano Mirarchi (Rome, Italy) would then get into the mix at the 3:32 mark to move the score to 4-2 but again ULV would respond to pull within one following a man-up goal. Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.) would connect with 1:40 to play in the first quarter but again the Leos would strike with :31 seconds to play to keep the deficit at one.
La Verne would find the equalizer midway through the second quarter but the Poets' Mirarchi andFilip Delic (Split, Croatia) would put WC on top by two 7-5 at the break.
In the third, La Verne would strike quickly to pull within one but back to back scores from Mirarchi and Kyle Catino (Lake Forest, Calif.) would stretch the lead to three 9-6. La Verne would manage to add another in the third to pull within two once again but a 2-1 run by the Purple & Gold would move the deficit back to three 11-8.
In the fourth, ULV would connect on their first possession to put the score at 11-9 but that's as close as they would get as Mirarchi and Zuric would add another three goals that put the game out of reach.
Mirarchi led the offense with a season high six goals, while Zuric had three and Catino with two.
Whittier prepares to defend their 2013 SCIAC Championship Title as this year's Championship is set for November 21-23 hosted by the University of Redlands.
