CLAREMONT, CA. – The No. 19 Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team came up just short in its upset attempt over No. 6 Long Beach State with a 15-14 loss in their first game of the Inland Empire Classic at Axelrood Pool.
The Sagehens had three players with a hat-trick as Sam Sasaki, Adam Gross and Dylan Elliott all had three goals each in the loss.
The Beach got out to a quick start as they converted the first three scores of the game before Jack Mallery got the scoring going for the Sagehens to cut the lead down to 3-1 with 1:19 left in the first.
Long Beach State each added one more to their total in the first as Gross netted his first goal of the game with 28 seconds left as the Sagehens trailed 4-2 heading into the second. Long Beach State began to pull away in the second period as they extended their lead to 7-4 with 5:45 left in the first half. The Sagehens battled back with four goals in the second by Noah Sasaki, Sam Sasaki, Kyle Green and Gross but Long Beach State still held a three-goal lead at 9-6 at the break.
Pomona-Pitzer had its best scoring period of the game in the third with five goals and outscored the Beach 5-4. The Sagehens cut the lead down to two goals multiple times throughout the third quarter and Keegan Coleman notched a goal at the end of the third period to put the upset attempt back into reach at 13-11.
The Beach scored first in the fourth but back-to-back goals from Elliott and Sam Sasaki cut the lead down to one goal at 14-13 with three minutes to play. The defenses stepped up in the fourth as goals were at a premium in the fourth. Long Beach State made itself some breathing room with a goal to push the lead to 15-13 with 2:36 left in the fourth. The Sagehens searched for some late offense and found a goal with 16 seconds left off of a five-meter penalty from Sam Sasaki but didn't have enough time to find an equalizer as the Beach survived the upset threat in the Inland Empire Classic.
