CLAREMONT, CA. – The No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo defeated SCIAC opponent Caltech 18-13 on Wednesday night at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 8-10 overall and 3-1 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by Stavros Panos and Patrick Hughes who shared a team-high with four goals. Andrew Plaschke also netted a hat-trick with three goals while Luca Bozzo, Zachary Kaplan, and Conrad Hugar had two goals each, and Nico Perna had one.
Pomona-Pitzer hosted the Beavers for their first game back after the Gary Troyer Tournament. The Beavers played the Sagehens tight in the first quarter after both teams netted four goals with scores from Hugar, Hughes, Bozzo, and Panos to head into the second tied 4-4.
The Sagehens started to separate from Caltech in the second quarter after Plaschke started the scoring with a goal followed by Perna, Kaplan, and Panos with two to give the Sagehens a 9-4 lead heading into halftime.
Caltech made it into a game in the second half and started out the third with two-straight goals to make it 9-6. Plaschke netted another goal to make it 10-6 with 6:49 left in the third, but the Beavers started to chip away at the Sagehens' lead and eventually got it even at 10-10 heading into the fourth.
The Beavers went on to take the lead in the fourth at 11-10 and forced the Sagehens to come behind in the fourth quarter. Kaplan and Hugar got the Sagehens back on top at 12-11 and then the Sagehens started to pull away late with goals from Plashke, Hughes, Panos and Bozzo to give the Sagehens some breathing room and come away with the SCIAC win at home.
Up Next: The Sagehens host a doubleheader on Saturday with Stanford at 10:00 a.m. and Chapman at 3:00 p.m.
