Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LA VERNE, Calif. – For the third consecutive year the Whittier College Men's Water Polo team has found themselves in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship game as they seek their third straight SCIAC Title and berth into the NCAA Division I National Championships.
After a tough one goal victory against host La Verne 12-11 in the opening round of the Championships, Whittier came back in the semi-finals to hold off Redlands 7-5 in a low scoring affair.
The Purple & Gold have now won three in a row and four of their last five heading into the Championship where they will take on either No. 1 Claremont-M-S or No. 3 Chapman University tomorrow, Sunday, November 22 beginning at 3:00pm.
Marino Fatovic (Dubrovnik, Croatia) got the scoring started in the first minute of the game on a man-up. Whittier's Gavin Kerr (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Wedge Molthen (Buena Park, Calif.) would grab exclusions soon after but the Bulldogs would come up empty on both possessions that kept the score at 1-0. UR would eventually find the equalizer and the go ahead goal over the next minute that put them in front 2-1 but Massimiliano Mirarchi (Rome, Italy) would add his first of the game that moved the score to 2-2.
In the final two minutes of the first period it was all Redlands as they would tack on another two that gave them a 4-2 advantage but that's the largest lead they would get as they would take a 5-3 advantage into the half following a combined two goal effort in the second quarter.
The second half was all Purple & Gold and they turned it on outscoring the Bulldogs 4-0 over the final 16 minutes with a big third period where they added three goals from Justin Pratt (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Mirarchi, and Eoghan Foley (Sterling, VA) to put WC in front 6-5.
In the fourth the defensive unit stood strong once again holding the Bulldogs scoreless, while Fatovic added cushion helping Whittier come away with the two goal victory.
