THOUSAND OAKS, CA. – The No. 1 ranked Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team left Cal Lutheran with a 16-13 overtime win at the Samuelson Aquatics Center.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 6-7 overall and open up SCIAC play 1-0.
The Sagehens were led by Sam Sasaki who netted a career-high seven goals in the win. Matija Jancic also netted a hat-trick with three goals in the win while Alexander Perterson had two and Kyle Green, Benjamin Sasaki, Zachary Kaplan and Andrew Plaschke each had one. Liam Byrne got the win in goal for the Sagehens with 19 saves and two steals
The Sagehens opened the scoring with a penalty goal from Sasaki to start his seven-goal night in the first two minutes of the game. Pomona-Pitzer extended its early lead to 3-1 after goals from Sam Sasaki and Perterson but Cal Lutheran kept it close at 3-2 midway through the first. Sam Sasaki completed a hat-trick in the first with three of the Sagehens' first four goals as Pomona-Pitzer led a slight 4-3 lead at the end of the first.
Pomona-Pitzer got early second quarter goals from Sam Sasaki and Jancic to take a 6-3 lead, but Cal Lutheran got one back in the second to take a 6-4 lead into halftime.
The Kingsmen had a huge third quarter that brought them back into the game after they outscored the Sagehens 6-4 to tie the contest at 10-10 heading into the fourth.
The defenses showed up in the fourth and after a quarter with 10 total goals, the Sagehens and Kingsmen each only scored one goal in the fourth. Sam Sasaki gave the Sagehens the lead lead within the first minute of the fourth and Cal Lutheran tied the game at 11-11 with 6:40 left to play. Neither team could find the game-winner as the two teams went into overtime to open SCIAC conference play.
The Sagehens took over in the first overtime period with Jancic getting the Sagehens on the board first while goals from Perterson and Jancic late made it 15-12 heading into the second overtime period.
Pomona-Pitzer rode their big overtime lead in the second overtime and a goal from Green put a stop to any comeback attempt from Cal Lutheran as the Sagehens escaped Thousand Oaks with the win.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host the Gary Troyer Tournament on Friday and Saturday with games against La Verne, Pepperdine, Redlands, and Pacific
