CLAREMONT, CA. – The No. 17 Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team came away with a pair of victories as they defeated SCIAC opponent Cal Lutheran 14-7 and Riverside CC 17-12 on Wednesday night at Haldeman Pool.
Pomona-Pitzer 14, Cal Lutheran 7
The Sagehens were led by Jack Mallery Noah Sasaki and Benjamin Sasaki who each netted hat-tricks in the win.
The Sagehens and Kingsmen started out as a close game as the top two ranked teams in Division III led off the contest exchanging goals. Noah Sasaki started off the game with a goal for the Sagehens off of pass from assist machine Dylan Elliott before the Kingsmen answered to make it 1-1. Adam Gross converted on a five-meter penalty and Ben Sasaki added two goals to end the first quarter as the Sagehens held a slight 4-3 lead.
Noah Sasaki opened up the second with a goal to increase the lead to two goals at 5-3 but the Kingsmen came back to tie the game at 5-5 with goals on their next two possessions. Ben Sasaki finished off his first half hat-trick to keep the Sagehens on top as they went into halftime with a 6-5 lead.
The third quarter was the difference in the game as Pomona-Pitzer ran away with a 6-0 quarter over Cal Lutheran. Mallery started the half with three-straight goals while Noah Sasaki, Keegan Coleman, and Gross joined in on the goal parade as the Sagehens went up 12-5 entering the fourth quarter.
After blowing the Kingsmen out of the water in the third quarter, the Sagehens coasted through the fourth but still managed to net two goals from Sam Sasaki and Elliott as Pomona-Pitzer flexed its muscles on the No. 2 ranked team in Division III.
Pomona-Pitzer 17, RCC 12
The Sagehens were led by Kyle Green, Timothy Mangan and Andrew Plashcke who all shared a team-high three goals in the win.
Riverside CC stayed with the Sagehens early on in the game with each team netting three goals to start. Green got the scoring going as Ben Sasaki and Plaschke also got on the score sheet in the first as the Sagehens and Tigers ended the first quarter tied 3-3.
RCC took the lead over the Sagehens to start the second quarter, but the Sagehens went on to outscore the Tigers 6-1 for the remainder of the quarter with goals from Jack Ryan, Sam Sasaki, Patrick Hughes, Zachary Kaplan, Mangan and Green to give the Sagehens a 9-5 lead at halftime.
After building a sizeable lead, the Sagehens matched the Tigers with four goals in the third quarter. Ban Sasaki, Mangan, Ryan and Plaschke all netted goals to increase the goal total to 13-9 entering the fourth.
The Sagehens outscored the tigers 4-3 in the fourth as Plaschke, Mangan, Mallery and Green capped off a big day for the Sagehens as they improved to 14-7 overall.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next travel to Whittier on Saturday, October 16th at 11:00 a.m.
