CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team opened up the UC San Diego Triton Invitational with a 9-5 loss to Long Beach State and an 18-3 loss to UC Santa Barbara.
The Sagehens were led by sophomore Adam Ward who tallied two goals against the 49er's. Long Beach State was led by Lorvo Miocevic who collected three goals in the win.
Pomona-Pitzer struck first in the match as Ward found the back of the net early to give the Sagehens a 1-0 lead. Long Beach State responded just 16 seconds later to tie the match up at 1-1 until Ward scored his second goal of the period with just one second left on the clock to take a 2-1 lead after the first period of play.
The Sagehens offense went quiet in the second period and the 49er's were able to capitalize on two goals to take a 3-2 advantage going into halftime.
Long Beach State pulled away in the third period as they tallied four-straight goals to take a 7-3 lead heading into the final period of play.
The two teams went back and forth in the fourth period alternating goals as freshman Cade Curry and freshman Sam Gorcey-Biblowitz each scored their first goals of the match but the Sagehens fell in game one of the Triton Invitation by the score of 9-5.
The Sagehens then took on UC Santa Barbara in the second match of their tournament double header.
The Sagehens offense was held in check by the Gauchos' defense as UC Santa Barbara ended the first half with a 12-0 lead.
Pomona-Pitzer scored their first goal of the game in the third period as freshman Riley Mangan found the back of the net to make the score 14-1.
Senior Nic Lanker and senior James Baker both scored their first goals of the year in the fourth period but the Sagehens could not hold off the offense of the Gauchos as they fell 18-3.
Pomona-Pitzer will next travel to Redlands as they compete in the Inland Empire Classic on Saturday, September 10th and take on Redlands at 9:00 a.m. and Concordia (Cal.) at 1:20 p.m.
