CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 19 Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team finished the Gary Troyer Tournament with a 4-1 record with wins on day two over Caltech and Loyola Marymount and a loss to No. 19 Air Force.
The Sagehens ended the day with a thriller 11-10 win over Loyola Marymount.
Pomona-Pitzer was led by sophomore Adam Ward who had season-high four goals in the win. Senior James Baker contributed with a hat-trick with three goals.
The Sagehens and Lions had a very close first half as the lead never exceeded more than one goal for each team. LMU started out the scoring in the first period but the Sagehens scored two-straight goals by Mark Hallman and Max Ries to take a 6-5 lead at halftime.
Pomona-Pitzer grew its lead in the third period as they outscored the Lions 4-2 and held a 10-7 lead heading into the fourth.
Loyola Marymount came back in the fourth with two-straight goals to cut the lead down to one goal at 10-9 but the Sagehens tacked on a goal by Jacob Niskey and held off the Lions offense to seal the win.
The Sagehens also took home a win against SCIAC opponent Caltech by the score of 13-3.
Pomona-Pitzer was led by Riley Mangan who had a career-high four goals in the win. He was helped by Nic Lanker and Cade Curry who also tallied hat-tricks with three goals each.
The Sagehens opened up the offense early against the Beavers as they outscored Caltech 9-2 in the first half.
The Pomona-Pitzer defense shutout the Beavers in the third and only allowed one goal in the fourth as goal keeper James Kelbert registered a career-high 15 saves.
The Sagehens scored four goals in the second half and held on for the 13-3 win.
Pomona-Pitzer began the day with a loss to No. 19 ranked Air Force Academy by the score of 9-7.
Goal keeper Daniel Diemer tried to keep the Sagehens in the game as he tallied a career-high 16 saves in the loss.
Both teams were held to a quiet first half as the Sagehens only found the back of the net three times and trailed the Falcons 5-3 at the break.
The two teams alternated goals in the third period and the Sagehens only trailed Air Force by one goal at 6-5 heading into the fourth.
The Falcons started the fourth with a goal to push the lead to 7-5 but the Sagehens continued to answer with goals of their own to keep it to only a one goal deficit.
The Sagehens had a chance late down one goal to even the score but an offensive turnover led to a Falcons goal to push the lead to 9-7 with only 53 seconds remaining.
Up Next: Pomona-Pitzer is finished with its tournament run and will now dive into SCIAC play as they next host Caltech on Saturday, October 15th at 11:00 a.m.
