CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team fell to SCIAC rival CMS 12-7 on Wednesday night at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: With the loss, the Sagehens fall to 10-15 overall and 5-2 in SCIAC play
The Sagehens were led by
Kyle Green and
Maxim Koretsky who each had two goals in the loss while
Nico Perna,
Chase Barman, and
Zach Whitfield had one.
CMS jumped out to an early lead in the first after they took advantage of a powerplay to earn the first goal of the night. Perna responded for the Sagehens to make it even at 1-1 but CMS netted back-to-back goals to take a 3-1 lead. The Sagehens pulled one back before the end of the first after Koretsky netted his first goal of the game to cut the deficit down to 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.
CMS earned another powerplay and scored the open the second quarter to push their lead back up two goals at 4-2, but Koretsky fired back again for the Sagehens off a powerplay of their own to bring the deficit back down to one goal at 4-3 with 5:21 left to play until halftime. The Stags scored off of two consecutive powerplays for their third-straight goal with a man up for a 6-3 lead, but Green got on the scoresheet for the Sagehens to make it 6-4 with just over two minutes to play until halftime. The Stags added one more to their total just before halftime as the Sagehens went into the break trailing 7-4.
Pomona-Pitzer got back into the game in the third after they outscored the Stags 2-1. The Sagehens came out of halftime with a goal from Barman but the Stags responded to keep the lead at three goals. Green ended the third quarter with a goal and Whitfield opened the fourth with a goal as the Sagehens found themselves down one at 8-7 with just under seven minutes to play in the fourth.
CMS regrouped and extended the lead in the fourth with the final four goals of the match as CMS held on to hand the Sagehens their first loss against CMS since 2019.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host Occidental on Saturday, October 28
th at 11:00 a.m.
