CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team went on to split day two of the IE Tournament with a 15-10 loss to Air Force and a 13-11 win over Westcliff on Sunday afternoon at Axelrood Pool.
Season Impact: With the split, the Sagehens move to 5-3 overall on the year.
Pomona-Pitzer 10, Air force 15
The Sagehens were led by Kyle Green who earned a hat-trick for the Sagehens while Benjamin Sasaki and Jack Ryan netted two goals each and Sam Sasaki, Conrad Hugar, Nico Perna and Jacob Whiting had one.
Air Force hag a big first quarter that forced the Sagehens to play from behind after they outscored Pomona-Pitzer 6-3 in the first eight minutes with goals from Green, Hugar and Whiting.
The Sagehens matched the Falcons In the second quarter, but Air Force started strong to take a 9-4 lead before Pomona-Pitzer fought back with three of the final four goals of the half to cut it 10-7 at halftime.
The Sagehens fell behind in the third after only scoring one goal by Nico Perna while the Falcons added three more to their total to take a 13-8 lead into the fourth. Pomona-Pitzer added two late goals by Ryan towards the end of the game but the big first half by the Falcons was too much to overcome as the Sagehens fell 15-10.
Pomona-Pitzer 13, Westcliff 11
The Sagehens were led by Sam Sasaki who netted a game-high five goals in the win. Timothy Mangan also netted a hat-trick with three goals while Green scored two and Ben Sasaki, Andrew Plaschke and Ryan all chipped in with one.
The Sagehens got behind early in the first quarter against the Warriors, but Mangan netted a late goal for a low scoring opening period at 1-1. Westcliff started out the second with back-to-back goals and maintained a lead for the majority of the second quarter before Ben Sasaki and Mangan scored two-straight goals to make it 4-4 with 2:39 left in the first half. Each team scored one more goal before halftime as Green found the back of the net with 30 seconds remaining to head into halftime tied at 5-5.
Pomona-Pitzer came out of halftime and took their first lead of the game with Sam Sasaki making it 6-5. The Warriors then responded with three-straight goals to take an 8-6 lead before the Sagehens came storming back with three goals in the last two minutes from Sam Sasaki, Green and Sam Sasaki again to take a 9-8 lead into the fourth.
Westcliff tied the game on their opening possession but Sam Sasaki, Mangan and Ryan pushed the lead to a comfortable 13-9 with 3:14 left to play. The Warriors threatened late in the game, but the Sagehen defense stayed strong and held on for the 13-11 win.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next compete in the MPSF Tournament on Friday, September 23rd.
