CLAREMONT, CA. – The No. 18 Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team ran through the SCIAC unbeaten in conference play as they capped off their regular season with an 18-11 thrashing of Whittier College on Saturday night at Haldeman Pool.
With the win, the Sagehens end the regular season at 23-8 overall and a perfect 14-0 in SCIAC play. Before the game, the Sagehens honored its five seniors playing in their last regular season game with Kellan Grant, Dylan Elliott, Noah Sasaki, Keegan Coleman and Adam Gross.
The Sagehens were led by Noah Sasaki who notched a game-high six goals in the win. Benjamin Sasaki followed with four while Dylan Elliott also notched a hat-trick with three. Matija Jancic netted two goals on the day while Kyle Green, Keegan Coleman and Adam Gross all chipped in with one. Kellan Grant had a great day in goal for the Sagehens as he came away with 12 saves and a steal.
The defense was impressive in the first quarter for the Sagehens as Grant and company shut out the Poets in the first eight minutes. The Sagehens built themselves a small lead in the first as Coleman and Elliott netted goals to take a 2-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Both teams turned on the offense in the second quarter with a combined 9 goals between the two teams. Whittier netted the first goal of the second quarter, but the Sagehens responded with three-straight goals from Noah Sasaki to take a 5-1 lead. Whittier closed the gap to just two goals but Gross ended the first half with a late goal to give the Sagehens a 7-4 lead heading into halftime.
The Sagehens pulled away in the third as they put up their best offensive quarter of the game with six goals. Noah and Ben Sasaki combined for goals to get the lead up to 10-4 while Elliott and Jancic added goals in the third as well to give the Sagehens a 13-7 advantage entering the fourth.
Even with the large lead, the Sagehens still managed to outscore the Poets 5-4 in the fourth as goals from Elliott, Ben Sasaki, Noah Sasaki and Jancic sealed the win for the Sagehens in a dominant seven-point win for the Sagehens.
Up Next: The Sagehens will hold the No. 1 seed in the SCIAC Tournament and will host No. 4 seeded Whittier on Friday, November 19th at 7:00 p.m.
