THOUSAND OAKS, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team defeated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent Cal Lutheran 9-6 on Saturday morning at the Samuelson Aquatics Center.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by senior Tony Murphy who notched the only multi-goal performance of the day with two goals in the win. Senior James Kelbert earned the win in goal for the Sagehens as he stopped nine balls and came away with one steal.
The Sagehens built themselves a nice lead in the first half as they outscored the Kingsmen 5-3. Pomona-Pitzer opened up the scoring in the first with a goal from junior Adam Gross off of an assist from senior Joseph Schafer, but Cal Lutheran followed up with a goal to even the score at 1-1. The Sagehens ended the first period with a goal from sophomore Benjamin Sasaki off of another assist from Schafer to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the period.
The Kingsmen and Sagehens alternated goals to open the second as senior Jacob Niskey found the back of the net, but Pomona-Pitzer ended the first half with back-to-back goals from first-year Alexander Peterson and sophomore Sam Sasaki as they took a 5-3 lead into halftime.
After putting up five goals in the first two periods, the Sagehens failed to net a goal in the third period while the Kingsmen added one more to their total as they trailed the Sagehens 5-4 heading into the fourth.
Pomona-Pitzer's offense picked back up in the fourth as they netted a game-high four goals in the final period. The Sagehens created a little bit of breathing room as they opened the period with two-straight goals from Murphy to extend the lead to 7-4. Cal Lutheran answered with a goal to bring the score back down to a two-goal gap at 7-5, but the Sagehens responded with two more goals from senior Riley Mangan and junior Noah Sasaki to put the game out of reach at 9-5. The Kingsmen added one more goal at the end of the game but the Sagehens were able to hang out for the win on the road.
Up Next: The Sagehens will return home for their home opener as they take on SCIAC opponent Whittier on Wednesday, September 25th at 7:00 p.m.
