CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team came away with a thrilling 10-9 win in double sudden death overtime on Wednesday night at Axelrood Pool.
Season Impact: with the win, the Sagehens improve to 20-10 overall and 10-3 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by Dylan Elliott who notched a team-high with four goals in the win including the golden goal winner in sudden death. Kellan Grant and James Kelbert both saw time inside the cage for the Sagehens with Grant going 16 minutes with five saves and Kelbert getting the win with 28 minutes and 12 saves.
Pomona-Pitzer jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period as Elliott opened up the game with a goal followed by a goal by Riley Mangan to give the Sagehens a 2-0 start. The defense held the Stags to just one goal in the period that came within the last 10 seconds to cut the lead down to 2-1 heading into the second.
CMS started and ended the second with goals as each team netted two apiece in the period. Joseph Schafer and Sam Sasaki each scored a goal in the second as the Sagehens went into halftime with a 4-3 lead.
CMS notched two of the first three goals of the second half with Elliott finding his second of the night to tie the score at 5-5. Adam Gross and Mangan followed up with goals as both teams scored three goals in the third to give the Sagehens a 7-6 advantage heading into the fourth period.
The Stags opened the fourth with a goal to tie the match at 7-7, but Elliott notched the go-ahead goal with just over four minutes remaining to push the Sagehens ahead 8-7. With second remaining, CMS had one final shot to tie the game and send it into overtime. Zack Rossman converted for the Stags with two seconds on the clock to force an overtime period.
Neither team to score a goal in the first overtime but the Stags went ahead in overtime number two with an early goal. The Sagehens tied the match with 1:46 left in the second overtime period as Schafer notched his second goal of the night to keep the lights on at Axelrood Pool.
It took two sudden death periods but the Sagehens found the game-winner after Zach Senator won the sprint and found Elliott who ended the game just 20 seconds into the second sudden death period as the Sagehens split the conference series with the Stags.
Up Next: The Sagehens will end the regular season as they host SCIAC opponent Cal Lutheran on Saturday, November 16th at 10:00 a.m.
