The University of Redlands men's water polo team celebrated Senior Day with a solid 15-7 win over the visiting Occidental College Tigers on Saturday. After celebrating the career of lone senior Max Taylor (Henderson, NV), the Bulldogs used a 9-2 scoring spurt to create a sizeable lead and never looked back in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory at the Thompson Aquatic Center.
After the Tigers snagged an early 2-1 lead, the Maroon and Gray came roaring back with eight unanswered goals by the 3:06-mark of the second quarter. The Bulldogs gained single scores from seven different players, with Taylor scoring twice to earn an early-game hat-trick on his Senior Day. Sophomore center Cooper Krause (Denver, CO) initiated Redlands' run with a goal and then provided the assist on sophomore attack player Spencer Allen's (Long Beach, CA) power-play netter at the 5:07-mark of the second quarter.
Although Occidental fired off four-consecutive goals, the Bulldogs stayed in front through the final whistle to secure the 15-7 win. Among the scoring highlights, junior utility player Mitchell Walker (Taylorsville, UT) launched a beautiful lob over the Tiger goalkeeper with 4:13 left in the third stanza, while junior center Billy Clifford (Redlands, CA) converted a five-meter shot to close out the quarter.
In addition, freshman goalkeeper Chris Martinez (Santa Ana, CA) and sophomore goalkeeper Braeden Shaw (Yorba Linda, CA) split time between the posts by combining for 13 saves.
The Bulldogs complete the 2017 season with a 13-16 overall record and a fifth-place mark in conference action at 8-6.
