WHITTIER, Calif. (Sept. 28, 2024) – The Whittier College men's water polo team remained unbeaten in SCIAC play with a win over the University of La Verne on Saturday morning, then contributed to the Poets' unbeaten sports crawl weekend with a second win over Grossmont College.
Game 1: Whittier 14, La Verne 10
The Poets, through seven regular season games, have looked the part as the most improved Division III water polo program in the country. However, the visiting Leopards also improved and proved to be no slouch in a competitive SCIAC game to open the day. Whittier raced out to a 4-2 lead early, with four different players responsible for the goals. Freshman
Ivan Cubelic (Split, Croatia / Solaris), who led the Purple & Gold with six goals on the weekend, had his second tally at nearly the halfway point of the first quarter, staking his side to a three-goal lead. However, the Leopards proved strong in the middle, and did not completely fade over the game's duration.
SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week
Loronzo Angolucci (Pescara, Italy / Serie B) drew the start between the pipes in the first of two Saturday games and played well as the Poets' last line of defense. He denied the Leopards on multiple penalty shot attempts, and cut off any attempt the Leopards had at a run with stops that brought the Poet fans to their feet. The rookie keeper made 13 saves, making it two consecutive games with more saves than goals allowed.
In all six Poets accounted for 14 goals. The home team finished the game as the more efficiency shooting team and did a great job of creating chances in the form of penalty shots. The Poets buried all three of their penalty chances. After the Leopards built some late-second quarter momentum, the Poets held them to just one goal in the third behind stellar play from Angolucci and ace defender
Relja Mitic (Nis, Serbia / Grammar School Stevan Sremac) and from there never looked back. Freshman
Noah Bigara (Cape Town, South Africa / Pinnacle Schools) also featured as a top Whittier contributor with four goals and two assists.
Game 2: Whittier 19, Grossmont 8
Collectively, the Poets gave a better account of themselves against Grossmont in a game that saw them get out to a quick start. Freshman
Evan Borunda (Whittier, Calif. / La Serna) picked up the first two tallies, and the Poets went on to score eight unanswered goals to open the game -- a streak that extended well into the second quarter. This time, senior
Kenshiro Matsuzawa (Chiba, Japan / Yachiyo) drew the start and rode the eight-goal head start to an easy win.
This time, 11 different Poets scored, marking a team-high for the Purple & Gold in 2024.
Head Coach Preslav Djippov and the Poets will have a short recess from SCIAC play this week. They will first host a tri-match with Biola University and Wagner College on Thursday, Oct. 3, then head to Claremont for the Gary Troyer Tournament next weekend.
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