PASADENA, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo Team swept through a road double-header on Thursday night, defeating Cal Lutheran 15-7 and Caltech 18-5 in their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference matchups.
Season Impact: With the two victories, the Sagehens are now 15-9 overall and 6-1 in conference play.
Pomona-Pitzer def. Cal Lutheran 17-5
Adam Ward had a standout offensive performance, leading the Sagehens with five goals while Noah Sasaki added four. Zach Senator score a goal with three assists and keeper Daniel Diemer recorded two saves and five steals in 16 minutes of play.
The Sagehens got on the board early, as Jacob Niskey forced a turnover which led to Ward's opening goal within the first minute. Niskey later committed a hard foul in the 5-meter area, surrendering a penalty goal to the Kingsmen, but made up for his error by finding Joseph Schafer near the post to assist on the Sagehens' second goal. The two teams went back and forth on the scoreboard, but Noah Sasaki and Adam Ward closed out the period with back-to-back goals to end the period with a 5-2 lead.
The Kingsmen scored more than three minutes into the second period to cut the deficit to two goals, but Sasaki sparked a 4-0 run, scoring back-to-back goals during the rally to extend the Hens' lead 9-3.
Cal Lutheran tried to cut the lead in the third period with two goals from 5:17 to 4:24 remaining. However, the Hens broke out with three straight goals in less than two minutes, starting at the 3:38 mark, extending to a 13-5 lead. The Kingsmen responded with a brief rally, scoring two goals with 1:26 left in the period, thanks to Zach Zamecki and Chris Gardhouse, cutting the lead 13-7.
The Sagehens erased any possibility of Cal Lutheran making a comeback, shutting them out on the defensive end and padding their lead with goals by Ward and Niskey to win 15-7.
Pomona-Pitzer def. Caltech 18-5
The Sagehens rushed over to Pasadena right after their victory over Cal Lutheran and managed to secure an 18-5 victory over the Beavers. Sasaki led the Sagehens with four goals while five different Hens scored twice. In addition to two goals, Mark Hallman added two assists and Keegan Coleman had a goal, assist, and two steals.
The Hens' defense and depth were on full display in the first period, shutting out the Beavers and scoring six goals, including two from Ward, to take a 6-0 lead. It was not until the second period when the Beavers would find the net, courtesy of Neil Sanderson with 6:37 remaining to bring the deficit down to 7-1. However, the Hens broke out with a 4-0 run in less than a two minute span to pad the lead 11-1. Sanderson managed to net twice for Caltech towards the end of the half to make it 11-3.
Dylan Eliott opened up the scoring in the third period on an unassisted effort, and the Sagehens continued to reel away. The Beavers struggled to break past the Sagehens' defense as the Hens recorded another shutout period, taking a 16-3 lead.
Caltech only scored two goals in the final period as the Sagehens held on comfortably to seal the victory 18-5.
Up Next: The Sagehens will host Whittier College this Saturday, October 21 at 11 a.m. followed by the special Alumni Game at 1 p.m.
