Claremont, Calif. - Senior center Jarrod Gaut scored the winning goal with 1:22 left in the second overtime and sophomore defender Phillip Clayman (pictured) had four steals in the extra session as the Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team outlasted Chapman 14-13 on Wednesday evening in a key SCIAC match.
With the win the Sagehens improve to 8-19 overall and 4-1 in the SCIAC, remaining one of three teams in the league with only one loss (along with Whittier at 5-1 and CMS at 4-1 coming into the day). Chapman falls to 4-2 in conference with the defeat.
The game was back-and-forth throughout as neither team ever led by more than two goals, and the score was tied 3-3 after one quarter, 5-5 at the half, and Chapman led 11-10 after three quarters.
Pomona-Pitzer tightened up the defense in the fourth, and took the lead after senior Ryan Higgins scored a man-up goal to tie it with 2:57 left and junior Clayton Hardman scored with 2:01 remaining to put the Sagehens ahead 12-11. However, Chapman drew an exclusion and Willis Allen batted in a crossing pass with 1:35 left to knot the score 12-12.
There was some late drama, as the Panthers nearly went ahead on a similar play with the shot clocking winding down and 10 seconds left in regulation, but freshman goalie Caleb Prater-Fahey came up with a clutch save to keep the game deadlocked.
Freshman James Baker gave Pomona-Pitzer the lead on a counter after a Clayman steal early in the first overtime, but Jack Cutler was able to answer for Chapman on a counter with 1:41 left in the first extra session. The score remained deadlocked until late in the second overtime, when Gaut posted up and took an entry pass, fought off a Chapman defender and scored from inside of two meters to put the Sagehens ahead 14-13.
After a timeout, Clayman picked up his fourth steal of overtime to kill a Panther possession, but the Sagehens were called for an offensive foul and an exclusion in quick succession, giving Chapman one last chance. The Panthers threw a cross-cage pass to the weak side, where they attempted a tying shot from a sharp angle with 10 seconds left, but the ball hit off the post and stayed out.
Chapman held a 5-3 lead late in the first half, but the Sagehens tied it before the break on goals from junior Travis Larsen and Higgins, and then took a 7-5 lead early in the third quarter on goals from Baker and Vint to complete the 4-0 run. Brett Carter then took over for Chapman with four goals in the third quarter to give the Panthers an 11-10 lead after three, although he spend the last three minutes of the stanza trading goals with Gaut, who had goals at 2:41, 1:24 and 0:21 of the third, while Carter scored at 2:20, 1:50 and 0:35.
Gaut finished with four goals to lead the way for the Sagehens, while Vint and Baker had three apiece and Higgins finished with two. Carter had five goals to lead all scorers for Chapman. Senior goalie Tyler Hill had eight saves for Pomona-Pitzer in the first half, while Prater-Fahey finished with 12 in the second half and overtime. Stephen Neil had 14 saves for Chapman.
Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to CMS for a 7 p.m. contest.
