CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team came away with an 11-7 road victory over SCIAC rival CMS on Wednesday night at Axelrood Pool. This marks the second time this season that the Sagehens have defeated the Stags after their 10-9 win earlier this season in the Triton Invitational. The two teams will meet for the third installment of the Sixth Street Rivalry on November 12th at Haldeman Pool to end the regular season.
Season Impact: with the win, the Sagehens improve to 13-14 overall and take firm control of first place in the SCIAC at 6-1 in conference play.
The Sagehens were led by Matija Jancic who netted five goals in the win. Alexander Peterson and Sam Sasaki both ended up with two while Jacob Whiting and Andrew Plaschke each had one.
Pomona-Pitzer got out to a great start on the road that forced the Stags to dig themselves out of a hole early. The Sagehens scored all three of the first-quarter goals as Jancic and Sasaki paved the way for a 3-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Jancic opened the second quarter with a goal to make it four-straight to start the game for the Sagehens before the Stags could net their first goal of the night with 4:47 left in the first half. CMS added another goal to get within two of the Sagehens' lead, but Pomona-Pitzer bumped its lead back up to four after goals from Plaschke and Jancic to take a 6-2 lead into halftime.
CMS came surging back to open the second half with three-straight goals to make it a one-goal game at 6-5 with 5:26 left to play in the third. Sam Sasaki and Peterson stopped the CMS run while Jancic and Peterson scored again early in the fourth to take the largest lead of the night at 10-5.
CMS tried to get back into the game in the fourth, but the Sagehens built too much of an early lead as Pomona-Pitzer held on for the road Sixth Street Rivalry win.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next head to Chapman on Saturday, October 29th at 11:00 a.m.
