WHITTIER, Calif. (Nov. 13, 2024) – The Whittier College men's water polo team grappled with a tough Pomona-Pitzer Colleges group on Wednesday night, but pulled out a signature 13-12 victory in regulation to keep its SCIAC Postseason Tournament hopes alive. Freshman standout
Zander Montoya (La Verne, Calif. / Damien) once again starred for the Poets, with four goals, including an absolute laser beam from mid-pool in the waning seconds of the first half that gave the Poets a one-goal advantage at the time. All four of Montoya's goals came in the first half alone, and half of those opportunities came on five-meter penalty shots.
From the onset, the Poets showed they have the talent and aptitude to compete with the best-performing team in the conference.Montoya opened the game with a five-meter penalty goal, set up by a beautiful 1-2 pass involving himself, senior
Relja Mitic (Nis, Serbia / Grammar School Stevan Sremac / Concordia University Irvine) and freshman center
Noah Bigara (Cape Town, South Africa / Pinnacle Schools).
While Whittier took a one-goal lead into halftime, the Sagehens bit back early in the second half, prompting a response from the Poets. Whittier gave said response when Mitic took matters into his own hands and scored twice in the third period to tie the game back at nine goals apiece heading into the fourth quarter.
Freshman
Zander Hyunh (Irvine, Calif. / Beckman) got things started for the Poets in the fourth period by winning three out of a possible four sprints. From there, fortune favored the Poets. Bigara scored an emphatic goal off a Pomona-Pitzer exclusion to allow the home team to take the lead, then freshman
Ivan Cubelic (Split, Croatia / Solaris) potted another off a breakaway to expand the lead to two with six minutes remaining.
A Mitic field block initiated yet another Poets run, where the Purple & Gold scored for a third time in the period off the shot of freshman center
Marton Thuroczy (Budapest, Hungary / SAS Budapest) to a roar from the Poet faithful. A couple more big saves from freshman goalkeeper
Loronzo Angolucci (Pescara, Italy / Serie B) (he had six on the night) helped the Poets maintain their late lead and keep their SCIAC Postseason Tournament hopes alive.
Head Coach Preslav Djippov and the Poets will finish the 2024 regular season on Senior Day when they host Chapman University at 11 a.m. To make the SCIAC Postseason Tournament as the last team in, the Poets will need to defeat the Panthers and hope for a California Lutheran University victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. With both the Poets and Stags currently at a 6-5 SCIAC record, CMS holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
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