CLAREMONT, CA. – The No. 16 Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team defeated a pair of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponents with its 15-9 win over Chapman and an 11-8 win over SCIAC rival CMS on Saturday.
With the wins, the Sagehens improve to 4-3 on the year and picked up their first two conference wins of the season.
Pomona-Pitzer 15, Chapman 9
The Sagehens were led by Dylan Elliott who netted a game-high four goals in the win. Jack Mallery, Alexander Peterson, Kyle Green, and Sam Sasaki all had multi-goal games with two apiece while Benjamin Sasaki and Jack Ryan each chipped in with one. Kellan Grant got the start in goal for the Sagehens and picked up the win with 13 saves and one steal.
Pomona-Pitzer had the offense going in the first half as they tallied 10 goals in the first two periods alone. Elliott got the scoring going with a quick goal off of an exclusion penalty before the Panthers responded with a man-up goal of their own to even the score at 1-1. That was the closest the Panthers would get as the Sagehens took off with four-straight goals from Peterson, Sasaki and Mallery to take a 5-2 lead heading into the second period.
Elliott started out the second with three-straight goals for the Sagehens to push the lead to 8-3 before Mallery and Ryan netted goals of their own just before half to extend the Sagehens' lead to 10-4.
After a strong offensive performance in the first half, Pomona-Pitzer matched Chapman the rest of the way in goals. The Panthers began to come back in the third period and cut the lead down to 11-7 at one point, but the Sagehens kept Chapman at an arm's length in the second half and hung on for their first conference win of the year.
Pomona-Pitzer 11, CMS 9
The Sagehens were led by Noah Sasaki who tallied a hat-trick with three goals in the win. Benjamin Sasaki, Elliott, and Adam Gross all had two goals as well while Mallery and Sam Sasaki each chipped in with one. Grant picked up both wins on the day with nine saves in the win against CMS.
A slow start to the Sixth Street Rivalry with each team only netting one goal in the first. The Sagehens struck early as Gross found the back of the net just a few minutes into the game but that was the only Sagehen scorer in the first period as the two tied went into the second even at 1-1.
The Sagehens created some distance in the second with four goals but the defense was the big story for Pomona-Pitzer in the first half as they limited the Stags to just three goals in the first half. Noah Sasaki and Elliott scored early and after CMS responded to tie the game at 3-3 with 4:09 left in the first half, the Sagehens ended the second period with goals from Benjamin Sasaki and Mallery to hold a 5-3 lead at the break
Pomona-Pitzer's offense started to find its groove in the middle of the game as they came out of halftime and put a five spot on the board in the third period. CMS scored early to make it a one-goal game but the Sagehens went on a scoring spree with four-straight goals from Noah Sasaki, Elliott, Noah Sasaki again and then Benjamin Sasaki to extend the lead to 9-4 with 2:34 left in the third.
The Sagehen defense was solid once again late in the game as they held CMS to just two goals in the fourth and rode its big second and third periods to a win in the first round of the Sixth Street Rivalry
Up Next: The Sagehens will next travel to SCIAC opponent La Verne on Wednesday, September 22nd at 4:00 p.m.
