Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Whittier College men's water polo team dropped a pair of games at the UCLA Invite Saturday as they fell 21-3 to host No. 2 UCLA before dropping a tight 10-9 decision to Concordia (CA).
A day after holding off Division I Air Force 9-8, Whittier ran into tough competition at the Invite as they drop to 2-3 on the young season.
Game 1 (No. 2 UCLA; L, 21-3)
Whittier knew they would be in for a test against No. 2 UCLA in the morning after they saw the Bruins open up a 12-0 lead through the first two quarters of play.
The lead would extend to 13-0 out of the break before Whittier's Nicolas Beavers (Long Beach, Calif.) would add the first score for the Purple & Gold. UCLA would add another five goals going into the fourth before the Poets would add their final tallies from Kyle Catino (Lake Forest, Calif.).
Game 2 (Concordia; L, 10-9)
In the second game of the day, Whittier matched up against the Eagles of Concordia (Calif.). Concordia opened up the scoring in the first before Whittier added the equalizer from Goran Mataic (Split, Croatia) at the 6:40 mark. Sophomore Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.) would put WC in front with a goal from the center position before the Eagles would rattle off two themselves to go back in front.
The first quarter would continue going back and forth before the Poets would take a one goal advantage 5-4 following scores from Massimiliano Mirarchi (Rome, Italy), Justin Pratt (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), and Marko Zuric (Split, Croatia).
Four goals were tallied in the second quarter with Concordia taking a one goal advantage into the break.
In the third, Whittier would outscore the Eagles 2-1 from Molthen and Mirarchi to tie up the game heading into the fourth at eight, but Concordia would come out on top outscoring the Poets 2-1, with the eventual game winner coming on a penalty shot.
Whittier remains on the road as they travel to the Inland Empire Classic, tomorrow, Sunday, September 14 when they take on No. 5 Long Beach State, La Verne, and Occidental.
