Box Score WHITTIER, Calif. (Sept. 20, 2023) – A new era of Whittier College water polo got underway on Wednesday evening with the Poets hosting SCIAC rival Occidental College in the home opener in front of a rambunctious crowd at the Slade Aquatics Center.
The game marked Whittier's first home game of the 2023 campaign as well as the team's first SCIAC game, but it also marked the home debut of new Head Coach
Preslav Djippov. The new-look Poets pushed a tough Tigers team throughout the first half, in large part thanks to the stellar play of junior goalkeeper
Kenshiro Matsuzawa (Brooklyn, Japan / St. Francis). The junior transfer made stellar save after stellar save to keep the Poets within two goals of their opponents heading into the break.
Matsuzawa's skill between the pipes really showed itself on a trio of five-meter penalty attempts for the Tigers. The native of Japan turned away all three Tigers opportunities, and held the visitors to just four goals in 14 attempts on the powerplay. Whittier's offense supported the star goalie in the first half, with talented first-year
Julian Breck (Norwalk, Calif.) scoring the first Whittier goal in the team's home pool to stake the home team to an early lead. While Oxy found an early answer, the Poets held firm with
Brody Haney (Tustin, Calif. Mt. / Saint Mary's University) finding the equalizer at just under the halfway point in the first quarter.
Whittier showed little issue with trading goals with Oxy throughout the game's early going, but while it seemed as though the Poets were beginning to wear on the Tigers defensively, the Purple & Gold ultimately fell victim to the visitors' superior strength in numbers. When the Tigers began to find their footing in the second half, however, the Poets did not wilt, finding repeated offensive answers, albeit not enough. Breck led the Poets with three goals, while Haney provided an additional offensive spark with a pair of goals of his own. Senior
Jackson Chamberlain (Greenwich, Conn.) did good work in facilitating and led all Poets with two assists while Matsuzawa stood tall in net with seven saves and one steal over all four quarters. Senior center
Ben Ramans (Los Altos, Calif. / St. Francis) flashed an impressive two-way game, scoring in the second quarter while anchoring the Poets defensively in the middle.
Djippov and the Poets will now turn their attention to a busy Friday, where they will first travel to the University of Southern California's campus to take on the University of California in the MSPF Invitational at noon. They will then return to Whittier in time to host SCIAC foe Chapman University at 5 p.m. before heading back to Los Angeles on Saturday to complete the invite.
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