Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Water Polo team swept the competition on Day 1 of the Gary Troyer Tournament capping off the day with a lopsided 17-13 win over McKendree.
The Poets followed up their win over Division I Iona with a balanced offensive attack in the nightcap against the Bearcats. Carlos Heredia Viteri (Commerce, Calif.) got the scoring started in the first quarter and tacked on his second with under a minute to play but the Purple & Gold still saw themselves trailing 4-2.
It was a deadlocked game in the second with both teams adding four goals apiece. The Poets saw the deficit increase to six as the Bearcats opened with two quick connections but Youssef Zaaza (Northridge, Calif.), Hans Zdolsek (Linkoping, Sweden), Zane Janich (Sacramento, Calif.), and Heredia Viteri would get WC back on track pulling them within two at the break.
The third quarter was all Purple & Gold as they scored six unanswered, which moved their scoring run to 9-0, which spanned late in the second. Tyler Fields (Norwalk, Calif.) sparked the run in the frame and Heredia Viteri took over after that with the next four strikes capped off with a power-play goal from Aidan Tol (Tustin, Calif.).
This opened the game up at 12-8 and with another five added in the final eight minutes, the Poets would roll to the four-goal victory.
In the final quarter, goals came from Fields, Cornelis Kriek (Pretoria, South Africa), Marc-Andre Roy (Montreal, Canada), Andrew Valencia (La Mirada, Calif.), and Zaaza.
Andrew Wettstead (Fresno, Calif.) got the start in goal for the Poets and finished with five saves, while picking up his third straight win.
Whittier outshot McKendree 35-25 and was 7-9 on power-play opportunities, which included a perfect 2-2 on 5-Meter Penalties. Heredia Viteri led the offense finishing with seven goals, an assist and two steals.
Whittier has a big Day 2 during the tournament as they take on Johns Hopkins (1:00pm) and San Jose State (4:45pm) today, October 7. The match-up against Johns Hopkins will take place at Haldeman Pool and the game with San Jose State will be at Axelrood Pool.
