WHITTIER, Calif. (Oct 12, 2022) - Whittier hosted the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens in a fierce SCIAC conference bout Wednesday night. The Poets were coming off of two heartbreaking losses and wanted to get back on track. Unfortunately, the men could not hang onto the lead at the end and lost 13-11. 

The first began and it was all Poets, the men were swimming well and out playing the Sagehens. Three minutes into the first Kaan Hamurculu was able to net the first goal of the game and gave the Poets their first lead. Less than one minute later Patrick Seelhorst was able to extend the lead to put Whittier up 2-0. Pomona would answer with a goal of their own before Ricky Reyes Jr. netted the last goal of the first and gave the Poets a 3-1 lead. 

The Sagehens scored the first two goals of the period and tied the game at three. Then Whittier went on another run and scored three straight goals, including two from freshman Luke Shropshire.  As time wound down, the Hens scored again to give themselves a 6-4 halftime lead.

Reyes began the third with his second goal of the game. Pomona-Pitzer then scored two goals, cutting the Poets' lead to 8-7. Tommy Baier would then net his second goal of the game to put the Poets up by two again. The third would end with four unanswered goals to give the Hens a 10-8 lead heading to the fourth. 

Hamurculu would once again start a period off with a goal when he found the back of the net and drew the Poets one short of the Sagehens. The teams then traded goals with each other. Reyes and Baier would both score their third goals of the game, but in the end, Pomona-Pitzer held onto the lead and secured the 13-11 victory. 

Whittier received contributions from many different players in tonight's game, with six different players registering a point. It was led by the goal-scoring of Reyes and Baier, who each provided three goals. 

Whittier now falls to 1-4 in the conference after the loss tonight. Its next game will be a part of a tournament held at Long Beach City College. The men will play two games on Friday the 14th, against Long Beach City at 12:40 and Riverside City College at 4:10. The Poets then return home on Sunday the 16th to take on San Jose State at noon.