CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team finished day one of Gary Troyer with a 12-10 loss against No. 10 Pacific on Friday night at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: with the loss, the Sagehens fall to 2-10 overall.
The Sagehens were led by
Kyle Green who had a team-high four goals in the loss.
Zach Whitfield and
Chase Barman had multi-goal games with two each while
Nico Perna,
Indigo Lee,
Miles Chiang, and
Jack Ryan had one.
Liam Byrne got the start in goal for the Sagehens and had nine saves in the loss to go along with three steals.
Pomona-Pitzer did a great job staying with Pacific early in the game. The Tigers struck first with the opening two goals of the game, but the Sagehens came back with a goal from Green followed by a powerplay goal from Barman to tie the game at 2-2. Pacific reclaimed the lead with a goal with 4:24 left to go in the first, but the Sagehens ended the first quarter with the final goal as Whitfield found the back of the net off of a powerplay to tie the game at 3-3 entering the second quarter.
After drawing another powerplay opportunity, the Sagehens took their first lead of the game to open the second quarter as Chiang scored right in front of the cage to put Pomona-Pitzer up 4-3. The Sagehens kept the lead for a few minutes, but Pacific was able to get even again off of a quick shot from a foul to tie the game again at 4-4, but the Sagehens responded with another go-ahead goal from Green to take a 5-4 lead with 3:21 left before halftime. The Tigers came back with two-straight goals to end the half and took the lead back at 6-5 heading into halftime.
The Tigers extended their lead to two goals to start the second half, and the Sagehens had a chance to cut it down to one goal, but a penalty shot was disallowed by the official to keep the score at 7-5 in favor of Pacific.
After the disallowed goal, the Tigers went on to add three more goals to take a 10-5 lead before the Sagehens got back on the board with a goal from Perna to make it 10-6 with 2:34 left to play in the third. Pomona-Pitzer got the ball back and added their second goal in a row to make it 10-7 as Ryan snuck a shot past the keeper, but Pacific responded with a powerplay goal to go back up 11-7. The Sagehens ended the third with the final goal of the quarter as Green converted a five-meter penalty with the Sagehens trailing 11-8 heading into the fourth.
Pomona-Pitzer won the sprint and immediately cut the lead down to 11-9 after a goal by Barman to get them close to striking distance against the No. 10 team in the nation. Byrne came up with a huge save at the other end and the Sagehens went on to cut the lead down to just one goal at 11-10 after Whitfield found the back of the net with just under seven minutes to play.
Pacific extended its lead back up to two goals, but the Sagehens came firing back in the fourth as Green and Lee scored back-to-back goals to tie the game at 12-12 with 3:46 to go. Unfortunately, the Sagehens couldn't hold off the Tigers' attack as Pacific scored two late goals and were able to hold off the Sagehens late for the win.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host No. 4 Pepperdine and Wagner tomorrow at the Gary Troyer Tournament.
