The Pomona-Pitzer men’s water polo team (8-10, 1-0 SCIAC) showed that facing the nation’s top competition earlier in the season paid off, as the Sagehens dominated Occidental College (2-13, 0-2 SCIAC) in their first SCIAC match. The Hens traveled to the Tigers’ pool on Saturday, Oct. 17 and took control of Occidental from the start, taking the victory by a final score of 12-4.
The Sagehens carried momentum over from their Sunday, Oct. 11 victory over No. 14 San Jose State University, in which the Hens pulled out a last-minute 8-7 victory. The Hens’ offense came out firing, outscoring the Tigers 4-1 in the first quarter. Attacker Tommy Turner PO '17 scored two goals in the first quarter and fellow attacker Matt Alexander PO ’17 added another first-quarter goal. Defender Phillip Clayman PO ’16 also added a goal in the first eight minutes of play.
Clayman has been a crucial part of both the Sagehen defense and offense, and he leads P-P scorers with 34 goals during this season alone.
The Hens’ defense remained sturdy in the second quarter, only allowing one goal. Alexander and Turner both added another goal to put the Sagehens up 6-2 going into the half.
P-P continued to dominate the game in the third quarter as Turner added his fourth goal of the game to lead all scorers for the game. Clayman added his second goal and utility player Adam Ward PO ’19 also found the back of the net. Occidental was able to score twice in the third quarter, but this would be the last time the Tigers scored for the rest of the match.
The Sagehens continued to pile on the points in the final quarter as Ward scored for the second time in the game. Attacker James Baker PO ’17 and attacker Mark Hallman PO ’18 also scored goals for the Hens to round out the 12-4 win.
Goalkeeper Daniel Diemer PZ ’18 has continued to be a key player as the Sagehens’ final line of defense in the net. Diemer only allowed four goals in the game and now has 178 saves on the season.
After winning their last two games, the Hens look to keep their win streak alive in their SCIAC home opener on Saturday, Oct. 24. P-P will take on Chapman University (9-8, 1-1 SCIAC) at Haldeman Pool at 2 p.m., followed by the alumni game at 3:30 p.m.
Chapman will prove to be a test for the Sagehens as the Panthers have played in two one-score SCIAC matches, falling to University of Redlands 9-8 and winning against California Lutheran University 12-11. Hopefully P-P can carry its momentum into this weekend and win in front of the Sagehen fans at home.
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