CLAREMONT, Calif. – Whittier split day two of the Gary Troyer Invitational, finishing the tournament 1-3 against tough competition. The Poets defeated the Augustana Vikings, 21-15, before falling to Division I opponent Cal State Fullerton, 14-8.
GAME ONE: WHITTIER 21, AUGUSTANA 15
In the morning game, Whittier came out firing, with Pedro Carvalho and Zander Huynh scoring the first two goals. Daniel Totev continued his top-notch tournament play, adding another score to give the Poets a 3-1 advantage.
Augustana answered with four consecutive goals, flipping Whittier's early edge into a 5-3 deficit.
Jason Dickson, Joaquin Mercado and Matthew Huacuja each found the back of the net late in the first period, helping the Poets tie the game at 6-6 heading into the second.
The Vikings briefly moved ahead 7-6, but from there, it was all Purple and Gold.
Sebastian Cadena and Ivan Cardenas answered with consecutive goals to put Whittier back in front, 8-7. Totev struck twice in 48 seconds, and Cardenas followed with his second of the period as the Poets began to pull away.
Cadena finished the half in commanding fashion, scoring twice in the final two minutes to cap a seven-goal quarter. The teams swam back to their benches with Whittier ahead, 13-8.
The Poets carried their momentum out of halftime as Huynh, Totev and Louis Hacket produced three unanswered goals, stretching the lead to 16-8.
Augustana responded with three straight of its own, but Evan Borunda stopped the run with just under a minute remaining, giving the Poets a six-goal cushion heading into the fourth.
Dickson wasted no time adding to the advantage, scoring just 24 seconds into the final period.
After Whittier's lead was cut to five, Totev converted a penalty before Dylan Zeledon and Cadena followed with goals, putting the game out of reach.
Totev finished a huge performance with five goals and three assists, while Cadena scored four. The Poets had 11 different goal scorers and totaled 14 assists in the 21-15 victory.
GAME TWO: CAL STATE FULLERTON 14, WHITTIER 8
Whittier started strong against the Titans, with Carvalho and Dickson scoring the first two goals of the game to give the Poets an early 2-0 lead.
Borunda made it 3-1 midway through the period before Fullerton began working its way back.
Huacuja provided Whittier's fourth goal with 51 seconds remaining, extending the advantage to 4-2. However, the Titans scored twice in the closing 30 seconds to erase the Poets' lead and even the game at 4-4 after one.
Fullerton grabbed its first lead early in the second, but Carvalho quickly responded with an exclusion goal to bring Whittier level again at 5-5. Two goals from the Titans created their first multi-goal advantage before Totev cut the deficit to 7-6. Just 24 seconds later, Fullerton answered and carried an 8-6 lead into halftime.
Out of the break, the Titans created more separation, scoring three consecutive goals to take an 11-6 lead. Carvalho ended the drought, completing his hat trick with the Poets' lone goal of the third period.
As Whittier tried to mount a comeback, Fullerton rattled the cage three more times. Huacuja snuck one in as time wound down for his second goal of the game, closing out the 14-8 contest.
Carvalho paced the offense with three goals, while Huacuja scored twice. Dickson contributed a goal and two assists, tying Carvalho for the team high with three points.
Men's water polo will return to the Slade Aquatics Center to face the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. Catch all the action on FloCollege.
Follow and show support for your Whittier Poets on Twitter (@WCPoets), YouTube and Instagram (@PoetAthletics).
