CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team earned the 2021 SCIAC Postseason Tournament Championship with its 12-8 win over SCIAC Rival CMS on Sunday afternoon at Haldeman Pool.
With the win, the Sagehens have now completed the SCIAC double with the regular season and SCIAC. Tournament Championships. The Sagehens move to 25-8 overall and will host the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship on December 4th and 5th.
The Sagehens were led by Noah and Sam Sasaki who each shared a game-high with three goals each in the win. Adam Gross had two goals while Dylan Elliott, Keegan Coleman, Benjamin Sasaki, and Timothy Mangan each chipped in with one. Kellan Grant had a great night inside the cage as the goalkeeper stopped 10 shots for the Sagehens and came away with one save.
As expected, the Sagehens and Stags had a classic SCIAC Tournament Championship in what was an extremely physical game between the two teams. The defenses showed up early as both teams had their struggles scoring goals in the first half.
The Stags and Sagehens alternated goals in the first half. Noah Sasaki scored the opening goal of the game before the Stags responded to even the score at 1-1. Noah Sasaki doubled up on his goals in the first, but CMS ended the first with a goal to even the score at 2-2 at the end of the first.
The second quarter was filled with defensive stops and offensive turnovers. The Stags scored the only goal of the quarter with 3:55 left to go before halftime as Pomona-Pitzer went on a scoring drought for the final 12 minutes of the first half and trailed 3-2 heading into the break.
The Sagehens regrouped coming out of halftime and found their rhythm on offense in the third. Elliott started off the second half with a goal followed with one by Coleman to have the Sagehens reclaim the lead at 4-3 with six minutes left in the third. CMS responded with a goal, but the Sagehens stayed on top responding with a goal from Sam Sasaki to take a 5-4 lead. CMS tried to shift momentum late in the quarter as they scored while time expired to tie the game at 5-5 heading into the last quarter of play.
With one quarter to decide the SCIAC Tournament Champion, the Sagehens played their best quarter of the game outscoring CMS 7-3. The Stags actually started out on top with a goal but Gross erased that with back-to-back goals and then Sam Sasaki scored two-straight goals to give the Sagehens their largest lead of the game at 10-6 with 3:18 left to play. CMS cut the lead down to three goals but the Sagehens wouldn't let their rivals get close as Ben Sasaki and Timothy Mangan joined in on the goals and gave the Sagehens the 2021 SCIAC Tournament Championship.
The Sagehens will next host the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship on December 4th and 5th at Haldeman Pool.
