WHITTIER, CA. - The No. 17 Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team came away with a big win on the road as they defeated SCIAC foe Whittier 12-8 on Saturday afternoon at the Slade Aquatics Center.
With the win, the Sagehens improve to 15-7 overall and remain perfect in SCIAC play at 7-0.
The Sagehens were led by Keegan Coleman who netted a hat-trick with three goals in the win. Sam Sasaki, Noah Sasaki and Jack Mallery each had two goals while Dylan Elliott, Ben Sasaki and Adam Gross each chipped in with one. Kellan Grant had a monster game in goal for the Sagehens as he stopped 17 shots to pick up the win.
Pomona-Pitzer got the scoring going in the first quarter after Sam Sasaki netted the opening goal of the game to put the Sagehens up 1-0. The Poets responded with two goals in the first quarter but Coleman and Elliott both netted goals to give the Sagehens a 3-2 lead.
The Sagehens ran into some offensive woes in the second quarter as Whittier was able to shutout the Sagehens and scored two of their own to take a 4-3 lead heading into halftime.
With the Sagehens needing a big quarter, the offense came out firing and outscored Whittier 5-2 in the third. Noah Sasaki got the quarter going within the first 30 seconds and Mallery immediately followed to reclaim the lead at 5-4. The Poets answered to even the score again at 5-5, but Ben Sasaki and Gross added goal to push the lead to 7-5. Each team was able to add a goal towards the end of the third but a late goal by Mallery pushed the Sagehens' lead to 8-6 entering the fourth.
Pomona-Pitzer jumped out early in the fourth to give themselves some breathing room after goals from Sam Sasaki and Coleman gave the Sagehens their largest lead of the game so far at four goals up 10-6 with 6:12 left to play. Whittier tried to fight back in the fourth, but the Sagehens were too much for the Poets as goals from Noah Sasaki and Coleman sealed the win for the Sagehens and kept their undefeated record alive.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next travel to SCIAC opponent Redlands on Wednesday, October 20th at 7:00 p.m.
