La Verne, Calif. - The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team jumped out to a 6-1 halftime lead and cruised from there to earn a 9-4 win over Occidental in the second of two matches at the Inland Empire Classic on Saturday.
The Sagehens also dropped their first match of the day to Cal Baptist 13-5 as they move to 2-2 on the young season, including a win over No. 14 Loyola Marymount last week.
Freshman Adam Ward (pictured) had two of the first three Pomona-Pitzer goals to send the Sagehens on their way to the win. Sophomore Mark Hallman also had two goals, the second of which came with just .9 seconds on the clock to end the third quarter and put Pomona-Pitzer ahead 9-2.
Junior Tommy Turner and senior Phillip Clayman added first quarter goals to give the Sagehens a 4-1 lead after the first stanza, and freshman Max Ries added one in the second to make the score 6-1 at the break. Junior James Baker and senior Neil Forsythe added third quarter goals.
"I though Cal Baptist put us on our heels a bit this morning," said Head Coach Alex La. "We played a lot better in the second match, especially with our team defense. Our defense was a lot better, which let us get out on counters and improved our offense. We need to repeat that tomorrow."
The Sagehens are in action tomorrow at Redlands for the second day of the Inland Empire Classic, facing defending SCIAC Champion Whittier at 9 a.m. and the host Bulldogs at 1:20 p.m.
