Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Water Polo team couldn't hold a three goal lead in the second half as host Cal Baptist came back to win 15-14 during the Lancer Invite Saturday morning. Whittier though would rebound to cruise past Fresno Pacific 22-14 in the afternoon match-up.
Game 1 (Cal Baptist; L, 15-14)
The previous time these two teams met it was during the Gary Troyer Memorial Invitational where the Purple & Gold fell 17-11. But this time around it was all Whittier controlling the first half forcing the Lancers to play from behind.
Whittier led by three at the half but CBU used a big third quarter outscoring the Poets 6-1 to come from behind to earn the one goal victory.
The first quarter ended in a deadlock 5-5 with four of the goals for WC being scored by center Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.) who did the heavy lifting down low with the two-meter.
Whittier would take the first multi-goal lead of the game with a 4-0 run in the second quarter coming from four different players that gave them a 10-7 lead at the break. Out of the half the Lancers kicked it into another gear adding four straight that gave them an 11-10 lead, the first since the first goal of the game.
The Poets would end the run thanks to Eoghan Foley (Sterling, VA) but it would be short-lived as CBU would add another three that gave them cushion. The Poets fought adding two in the final 37 seconds from Foley and Massimiliano Mirarchi (Rome, Italy) but it wouldn't be enough to complete the comeback.
Molthen would finish the game with six goals, while Foley connected with three.
Game 2 (Fresno Pacific; W, 22-14)
The second game during the Lancer Invite put the Poets against Fresno Pacific for the second time this season. The previous time the Poets edged the Sunbirds 13-11 back on September 5 during the Whittier Open and again dominated play as they scored a season high 22 goals in their 11th victory on the season.
Whittier used a 10 goal effort in the first quarter that put the game out of reach early, which was the most goals scored in a single quarter this season. Mirarchi led the charge with three goals and Marino Fatovic (Dubrovnik, Croatia) and Mihailo Vuja (Belgrade, Serbia) would each add two during the run.
It got worse for the Sunbirds as Whittier would add another six that gave them a 16-9 lead at the break before being held to just five goals in the second half, which included just one being tallied in the third.
Whittier now opens Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play next Saturday, October 17 as they host the University of Redlands beginning at 11:00am.
