CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo fell to Redlands 9-8 in the SCIAC Semifinals on Friday night at Haldeman Pool.
This marks the second time this season that the Sagehens have lost to the Bulldogs as they fall to 17-15 overall to end the season.
The Sagehens were led by Alexander Peterson who netted three goals in the loss. Sam Sasaki and Kyle Green each had two while Matija Jancic netted one.
Redlands for the first goal of the game off a long shot that found the back of the net and then the Bulldogs successfully defended a five-meter penalty and a 6-on-4 to keep the lead at 1-0. The Sagehens got the tying goal in the first quarter as Green got the scoring going followed by a long shot by Peterson to give the Sagehens their first lead with 2:32 left in the first quarter. Redlands came back on their next possession to tie at 2-2, but Peterson struck again to put the Sagehens up 3-2 to end the first.
Redlands tied the game to start the second, but Sam Sasaki got the Sagehens back on top with a goal on the Sagehens' next possession. The Bulldogs retied the game on their next possession as the two teams went back and forth to open the second quarter, but the Sagehens ended the first half with two unanswered goals from Green and Peterson to take a 6-4 lead into halftime.
The third quarter was a huge turning point for Redlands after they shut out the Sagehens in the third quarter. The Bulldogs netted two goals to tie the game at 6-6 with just over three minutes left in the third and then took over the lead at 7-6 to end the third.
The Sagehens needed an early goal in the fourth and found one as Jancic got the ball in front of the cage and tied the semifinal at 7-7 in the fourth. Redlands took the lead off of a powerplay goal at 8-7 with 6:16 left in the fourth and it took the Sagehens four minutes to find an equalizer after Ben Sasaki found the corner of the goal to make it 8-8 with two minutes to play. Redlands came back on its next possession and drew an exclusion followed by a powerplay goal to reclaim the lead at 9-8 with just a few possessions remaining. Pomona-Pitzer drew an exclusion with 39 seconds remaining and needing a goal to potentially send the game into overtime. The Redlands' defense came up big late in the game and stopped the Sagehens on their last possession to knock out the Sagehens in the SCIAC Semifinals.
