Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Water Polo team remains unbeaten in SCIAC play as they rolled to the 14-9 victory Saturday morning over the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran University at the Samuelson Aquatic Center.
With the win, the Poets improve to 15-9, 4-0 SCIAC, have won five of their last six and remain a game behind Claremont-M-S in the SCIAC Standings.
The game proved a physical one throughout. CLU grabbed the early lead after Camron Hauer broke through for a close range goal, but sophomore and reigning SCIAC Newcomer of the Year Massimiliano Mirarchi (Rome, Italy) once again proved tough to stop as he stormed back to add back to back tallies that put the Purple & Gold in front 2-1.
After Ryan Moguel tied the game up soon after, the Poets' Marino Fatovic (Dubrovnik, Croatia) would add the go ahead on a man-up opportunity that gave the Poets a 3-2 lead.
Mirarchi would come alive in the second with back to back goals to start things off that moved the score to 5-2, but the Kingsmen' Hauer and AJ Franklin would combine for two of their own that would cut the deficit to one.
But that's as close as CLU would get as Mirarchi would once again add another couple that helped give Whittier a 7-5 lead at the half.
In the third, the Poets went on a 3-1 run that extended their lead to 10-6 and they wouldn't look back as Mirarchi would add another two in the fourth en route to the one-sided victory on the road.
Mirarchi finished with a game high nine goals, while Fatovic totaled two. Sophomore Andrew Wettstead (Fresno, Calif.) got the start in goal and finished with six saves.
Whittier returns to the pool next Wednesday, November 4 as they travel to Claremont-M-S for a big SCIAC Showdown with the Stags between No. 1 and No. 2 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Polls with game time set for 7:00pm.
