REDLANDS, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team finished the IE Classic with a 3-1 record after their 14-11 win over Fresno Pacific and a tight 18-15 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Sunday afternoon at the Thompson Aquatics Center.
 
Season Impact: With the split, the Sagehens move to  2-5 overall.
 
Pomona-Pitzer 14, Fresno Pacific 11

The Sagehens were led by Conrad Hugar who led the way with a hat-trick in the win.  Darragh Falnders, Max Distaso, and Connor Sullivan had two goals each while Chase Barman, Kai Baker, Zach Whitfield, Jack Ryan, and Andrew Plaschke had one.
 
The Sagehens played from in front during the frist half and got out to a lead in the first after Sullivan opened the game with a goal. Whitfield, Plaschke, and Ryan got the Sagehens out to a 4-1 lead before Fresno Pacific ended the first with a goal to make it 4-2.
 
Distaso and Baker netted goals in the second quarter for Pomona-Pitzer, but FPU matched the Sagehens with two of their own to keep the score two goals apart at 6-4 heading into halftime.
 
The Sunbirds had a big third quarter that got them back on top outscoring the Sagehens 6-3.  FPU started the second half with four-straight goals to take an 8-6 lead. The Sagehens came back with goals from Flanders and Hugar, but Fresno Pacific still led at 10-9 heading into the fourth.  
 
After giving up the lead in the third, the Sagehens came back with a big fourth quarter to seal the win. Sullivan tied the game with a goal at 10-10 while Flanders netted another goal to put the Sagehens up 11-10.  After FPU tied the game at 11-11 with just under six minutes to play, the Sagehens ended the game with the final three goals from Distaso, Barman and Hugar to start the final day of the IE Classic with a win.
 
Pomona-Pitzer 15, UC Santa Barbara 18
 
The Sagehens were led by Zach Whitfield who netted four goals in the loss.  Indigo Lee also netted a hat-trick with three goals while Nico Perna and Chase Barman had two and Flanders, Sullivan, Plaschke and Ryan had one.
 
Pomona-Pitzer had a great start against the Guachos to jump out to a 5-3 lead. Whitfield started his goals with the opening three goals of the game for the Sagehens while Barman added two in the first to take the lead into the second quarter.
 
UCSB had a huge second quarter to steal the game back from the Sagehens outscoring Pomona-Pitzer 5-1 to take an 8-6 lead into halftime.
 
The Sagehens came back to cut it within one with the opening goal of the third quarter from Lee, but UCSB widened the gap at 13-9 heading into the fourth.
 
The Sagehens had a big fourth quarter to make a comeback and cut the deficit down to just one goal at 16-15 after a goal by Lee with just under two minutes to play.  UCSB responded with a goal to take a 17-15 lead with 26 seconds left and added one more just before the whistle as the Sagehens' upset attempt fell just short.
 
Up Next: The Sagehens will have their first home game as they host Caltech on Thursday, September 19^th at 4:00 p.m.