CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team will play for the USA Water Polo Collegiate Division III National Championship after their 13-7 win over No. 8 MIT in the Semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Haldeman Pool.
With the win, the Sagehens improve to 26-8 overall.
The Sagehens were led by Dylan Elliott who almost surpassed his career-high mark with eight goals in the win. Sam Sasaki was the only other Sagehen in double digit scoring with two goals and Kyle Green, Benjamin Sasaki and Adam Gross each chipped in with one in the win. Kellan Grant got the win in goal as he stopped 13 balls and had two steals in 24 minutes of play.
The Engineers actually started the game with the lead as they scored on their opening possession, but the Sagehens answered with three-straight goals from Elliott to take a 3-1 at the end of the first quarter. Elliott continued his goal streak with the first five goals of the game for the Sagehens before Green netted his goal to give the Sagehens a 6-1 lead with 4:37 left to play in the first half. The Sagehen defense shut out MIT in the second period and in the final 15 minutes of the first half while Gross and Ben Sasaki netted goals to give the Sagehens an 8-1 lead heading into halftime.
Elliott opened up the second half with two more goals to add to his total before MIT notched three-straight goals to cut into the Sagehens lead at 10-4 with 44 seconds left in the third. Sam Sasaki ended the third quarter for the Sagehens with a goal to keep the lead comfortable at 11-4 entering the fourth quarter.
Sam Sasaki and Elliott got the fourth going with back-to-back goals to give the Sagehens their largest lead of the game at 13-4 with 5:42 left to play. MIT scored the final three goals of the game, but the Sagehens cruised to victory in the Semifinal and punched their ticket to the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship.
Up Next: The Sagehens will face off against CMS in the USA Water Polo Collegiate Division III National Championship on Sunday, December 5th at 1:00 p.m.
