Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Water Polo team needed all 32 minutes to pull off the victory Friday morning as they edged host La Verne 12-11 during Day 1 action of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships.
For the second straight game, Whittier has taken on the Leos earning the 15-9 decision in their home finale on November 20 moving their season record against ULV to 2-0.
Sophomore Massimiliano Mirarchi (Rome, Italy) got the scoring started on the Poets first possession coming on a man-up situation. After a Leo goal that tied things up Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.) connected in set that put WC in front 2-1. ULV managed to add back to back strikes soon after that put them in front for the first time but Aidan Tol (Tustin, Calif.) answered with a goal of his own that forced the game into a tie 3-3 after the first eight minutes.
In the second the game remained a back and forth battle with La Verne jumping in front 5-3 but Whittier was able to rally with a 3-1 run over the ensuing 4:43 with goals from Mirarchi (2) and Eoghan Foley (Sterling, VA) that sent the game into a tie 6-6 at the break.
Out of the half Chad Castro from La Verne would answer quickly putting ULV in front 7-6, Massi would add another two shortly thereafter that would knot things up two more times but again La Verne managed to connect on back to back possessions that put them in front by two 10-8.
Whittier however wouldn't go away as Justin Pratt (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Massi would add another two for the Purple & Gold that again tied things up but this time at 10-10 after three quarters of play. With :15 seconds left on the clock, the Poets had a chance to go in front for the second time following an exclusion on Makai DeNeve-Amam but couldn't convert the man-up keeping the game deadlocked.
The final eight minutes proved a defensive test with a combined three goals being scored. With 3:29 to play La Verne would strike once again going in front 11-10 but would be shut down after that as Foley and Massi would add the final two scores that sent the Poets to the one goal victory.
Whittier awaits the winner of the No. 3 Redlands and No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer match-up and will play their semi-final game tomorrow, Saturday, November 21 beginning at 9:45am. Whittier is 2-0 against both the Bulldogs and Sagehens but both victories came by one goal.
