The
Pomona-Pitzer (3-11) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (4-11) men’s water polo teams
both competed at the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament this past weekend, where they each split their games, winning two and losing two. The Sagehens picked
up victories against Iona College and Washington & Jefferson College, and lost to Harvard University and
Fresno Pacific University, while the Stags beat Fresno Pacific University and George Washington University, with losses to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University. The Stags also played Iona in a non-tournament
game on Thursday, where they picked up a victory as well.
For CMS,
the highlight of the weekend came against George Washington. Midway through the
first quarter, the Stags found themselves in a 0-4 deficit trailing the
Colonials. However, the team didn’t let George Washington slip away and slowly
started cutting down on their lead. In a big second quarter, the Stags took a
7-6 lead late following three unanswered goals. The team also scored three
unanswered in the fourth quarter and continued piling on goals to
ultimately win the game 12-9. Adam Hilborn CM ’16 was the Stags’ leading scorer, with three goals on the game.
The
Stags’ other victory in the tournament against Fresno Pacific proved much less
challenging. The Stags only deficit in the game came after falling behind 1-0
to Fresno Pacific. After this initial goal, the Stags took control and netted
five goals in the first quarter to make the score 5-2. The team led the entire
rest of the way to win 11-9. Alex Waggoner CM ’17 headed the team’s effort with
three goals against Fresno Pacific.
In a
weekend where a total of seven Stags scored goals on just the first day of the
tournament, coach Greg Lonzo recognized the entire team’s success.
“This
weekend [the team] had contributions from all over the pool,” Lonzo said.
Over at
Haldeman pool, the Sagehens picked up their first victory of the weekend
against Iona in an exciting match that came down to the last few minutes of
regulation. Phillip Clayman PO ’16 had an incredible game, scoring a career-high five goals against the Gaels, all in the first three quarters. Despite
Clayman’s performance, the Sagehens still found themselves trailing Iona 9-10
late in the third quarter. The two teams continued trading punches, and the
game was tied 12-12 with just over three minutes to play after a five-meter
penalty from James Baker PO ’17. Tommy Turner PO ’17 then broke the tie and
netted two brilliant goals, just 46 seconds apart, to win the game for the
Sagehens in the final minutes.
One of
the most anticipated games of the weekend was P-P’s matchup against Harvard on
Friday evening, which saw a packed and rowdy crowd at Haldeman pool. The Hens
started off the match strong, keeping the game tied at 3-3 just before
halftime. The defensive battle soon went Harvard’s way as the Crimson shut out
the Sagehens for the rest of the game and pulled away toward a 7-3 victory. Goalkeeper Ethan Caleb Prater-Fahey PO ’17 tallied 13 saves in the game, despite the loss.
“The Harvard
game was a well-played game with strong defense on both sides,” Neil
Forsythe PO ’16 said. “Though the end result was disappointing, it was a
hard-fought game with many positives. What it came down to, however, was that
Harvard simply finished more of their opportunities than us.”
The Sagehens face off at home against Mercyhurst University Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. and then will next compete against Air Force Academy Oct. 13, both
non-conference games. The Hens know that they still have plenty more work to do
going into next weekend and the upcoming SCIAC games.
“Our coach and players agree
that definitely have to finely tune some aspects of our game before we will
be ready for that last month of our season,” Devon Kennedy PZ ’16 said.
The Stags will play next against California Baptist University Oct. 11, followed by the annual alumni game, before beginning SCIAC play the
following weekend.
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