CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Men's Water Polo team fell to Division I powerhouse No. 6 Cal 15-10 on Thursday night at Haldeman Pool.
 
Season Impact: With the loss, the Sagehens fall to 4-6 overall.
 
The Sagehens were led by Zach Whitfield who netted a hat-trick with three goals in the loss. Darragh Flanders, Indigo Lee, and Logan Coleman had two each while Max Distaso, had one. Liam Byrne ended up getting the loss, but had a great game in goal for the Sagehens with eight saves and a steal.
 
Pomona-Pitzer played an extremely competitive game against a top-ranked opponent at Haldeman Pool.  The Sagehens stayed within two goals of the Bears for the entire game until Cal started to pull away midway through the fourth quarter.
 
Cal got the scoring going with two goals to start the game before Whitfield answered for the Sagehens. A slow start by Pomona-Pitzer with just one goal in the first quarter as they trailed 3-1 heading into the second.
 
The Sagehens had a monster second quarter after they outscored Cal 6-3 for their highest scoring quarter of the night. Distaso, Coleman, and Flanders all netted goals to tie the game at 4-4 with 3;33 left until halftime.  Cal went on to break the goal streak to take a 5-4 lead over Pomona-Pitzer, but the Sagehens ended the half with goals from Lee, and Coleman to go up 7-6 on the No. 6 team in the country heading into the break.
 
Cal Started the second half with a goal before the Sagehens answered right back with a goal from Flanders to keep their one-goal lead at 8-7, but the Bears ended the third with three-straight goals to take a 10-8 lead into the fourth.
 
The Sagehens kept it close early on in the fourth with a goal from Whitfield to make it 12-10 with 3:56 to play, but Cal was able to hold off the Sagehens with final three goals of the contest as the Sagehens valiant effort came up just short.
 
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host the Gary Troyer Tournament on Friday October 4^th with games against Johns Hopkins at 1:40 p.m. and Pepperdine at 7:00 p.m.