Bulldog Men's Water Polo Splits Thursday's Action with 20-3 Win over McKendree

Posted: Oct 05, 2017

The University of Redlands men's water polo team hosted a pair of non-conference opponents on Thursday at the Thompson Aquatic Center and earned split results. The Bulldogs battled the Rams of Fordham University (NY) to a halftime tie but came up short by a final score of 6-11. In the Maroon and Gray's second outing, the home team scored early and often en route to a dominating 20-3 victory over McKendree University (IN), which is now coached by former Bulldog Ryan Hall '08, '16.

Against the McKendree Bearcats, Redlands came out firing on all cylinders while scoring 11-straight goals for an impressive start. Senior utility player Max Taylor (Henderson, NV) unleashed three of the Bulldogs' goals, while junior center-defender Ilan Dayan (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and freshman attack player Aaron White (San Jose, CA) each scored twice. In addition, junior utility player Mitchell Walker (Taylorsville, UT) distributed three assists.

After McKendree converted its first goal, the Bulldogs put together another scoring spree of seven goals through the 6:32-mark of the fourth period, with White leading the charge with three of his game-high five goals coming during this stretch. Sophomore utility player Kyle Jackson (Naperville, IL) scored twice, as sophomore utility player Blake Burney (Las Vegas, NV) provided two assists

The final six minutes saw the teams trade a pair of goals, including freshman attack player Chris Frejlach's (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) first goal of his young Bulldog career.

Freshman Chris Martinez (Santa Ana, CA) and sophomore Braeden Shaw (Yorba Linda, CA) split time in the cage and recorded eight saves collectively.

In the earlier contest, the Bulldogs recorded the first goal of the game, when Taylor dished the ball to Walker for the 1-0 lead with 5:20 left in the opening period. After Fordham fired off back-to-back goals, the Maroon and Gray answered when junior center Billy Clifford (Redlands, CA) tapped in a pass from junior attack player Ty Williams (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) at the three-minute mark.

Although the Rams nabbed a slight 3-2 lead at the end of the quarter, Redlands stayed persistent by evening the count on a goal by sophomore attack player Spencer Allen (Long Beach, CA) early in the second. The teams traded scores to enter halftime knotted at four apiece, with junior center-defender Sean Todd (Highland, CA) uncorking a rocket of a shot from the perimeter for the Bulldogs.

Unfortunately for the home team, Fordham erupted for a 4-1 run in the third frame to pull away and eventually left the Bulldogs with a 6-11 loss.

Redlands (5-12, 2-2 SCIAC) heads to Haldeman Pool at Pomona College for two games of the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament on Friday, October 6. The Bulldogs face Johns Hopkins University (MD) at 11:45 a.m. before squaring off against La Salle University (PA) at 4:45 p.m.