PASADENA, Calif. (Oct. 7, 2023) – The Whittier College men's water polo team broke into the win column on Saturday afternoon, with sophomore utility
Brody Haney's big game at the center of a massive effort at Caltech.
Haney potted eight goals just last weekend to nearly give the Poets their first win of the season against Fresno Pacific University in the Gary Troyer Tournament. However, he had no problem repeating this feat against the Beavers, and his offensive outburst proved more than enough to get the Poets off the schneid. The sophomore maintained his two-way presence for all four quarters, as he also had four steals, three of which directly led to Whittier goals. Caltech actually had the first goal of Saturday's game, but Haney made sure to answer quickly to show the Poets weren't going away.
Haney was not the only Poet to contribute in a big way on Saturday afternoon. Senior center
Ben Ramans came off the shelf to turn in the second goal of the game while giving his team an offensive and defensive presence in front of both nets. He took an additional five shots and drew two exclusions. When Caltech knotted the game back up at three goals apiece, freshman
Elish Sansyzbay came through with a huge goal, though the go-ahead goal actually came towards the end of the second quarter when freshman
Julien Breck found the back of the net for the first of three times. The Poets played hard to the final whistle of each frame, as a drawn exclusion from the Purple & Gold led to Haney attempting his first five-meter penalty shot of the game, which he buried in the back of the net to give the visitors a two-goal lead at halftime.
Whittier kept up its intensity coming out of the break, with the team coming together for three power-play goals, in addition to a second five-meter penalty goal for sophomore Haney. It was during this portion of the game the Poets were able to impose their will on the Beavers and did so to the tune of a 5-1 scoring discrepancy in the third quarter that allowed Whittier to take a six-goal lead into the final frame. A goal from Breck, and two more from Haney helped Whittier seal the deal, giving Head Coach
Preslav Djippov his first win as the figurehead of the Whittier water polo programs. Freshman
Dylan Zeledon also got in on Whittier's 18-goal game, and the Poets' big run in the third quarter probably would not have happened without the stellar play of junior goalkeeper
Kenshiro Matsuzawa. Matsuzawa had another double-digit game between the pipes for the Poets, making 11 saves while even assisting on one of his team's 18 goals.
Djippov and the Poets will try to keep their winning ways going when the face another beatable opponent in the University of La Verne at home on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
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