Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LA VERNE, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Water Polo team was untested Wednesday afternoon on the road as they cruised past the University of La Verne 18-8.
The Purple & Gold remain undefeated in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play at 7-0 and currently sit at .500 at 11-11.
Sophomore Eric Borunda (Whittier, Calif.) had the best game of his career with seven goals and a pair of assists, with two of them being the first two tallies of the game for WC. Whittier led 4-2 after the opening quarter getting two other strikes from Maxwell Murphy (Orinda, Calif.) and Hans Zdolsek (Linkoping, Sweden).
A big 2nd quarter gave the Poets an 8-3 lead at the break. During the frame Whittier added another four goals from Borunda, Zdolsek, Mackenzie Aakhus (Bakersfield, Calif.), and Enrico Antunes (Sao Paulo, Brazil), two of which came on 6-on-5's.
Out of the break ULV made a push putting up four goals in the 3rd quarter but still couldn't make a dent into the Poet lead as Whittier added another five with Ricardo Reyes Jr. (Commerce, Calif.) starting the run and being joined by Borunda, Zdolsek, and Toby Chung (La Canada, Calif.).
Whittier led 13-7 heading into the final period and didn't let up outscoring the Leos 5-1 as Borunda, Carlos Heredia Viteri (Commerce, Calif.), Aakhus, and Jesus Padilla (Commerce, Calif.) would put the game out of reach.
Junior transfer Dylan Woodhouse (Harare, Zimbabwe) for the third straight game earned the start between the posts and picked up 11 saves and a steal as starting goalie Murat Ersoz (Istanbul, Turkey) continues to recover from an ear infection.
Whittier outshot La Verne 38-31 was 4-for-7 on power-plays and forced 12 turnovers.
Zdolsek had a strong game adding three goals, two assists and a pair of steals. Heredia Viteri was tough defensively adding a goal, an assist and three picks and Aakhus finished with two goals and a steal.
Whittier remains on the road this Saturday, October 26 when they travel to Thousand Oaks, Calif. to take on Cal Lutheran University beginning at 11:00am. The last time these two teams met back on September 28, Whittier pulled out the 12-5 victory at home.
