THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team saw their run in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament come to an end in the Championship Game Sunday afternoon falling 8-5 to Cal Lutheran University.
The Bulldogs looked to make it three upsets in a row after knocking off No. 4 Claremont-M-S and No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer, but couldn't complete the trifecta as they ran into a tough Kingsmen squad on the road. Redlands moves to 15-15, 5-6 SCIAC and despite the loss have qualified for the USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate National Championships set to be played December 3-4, hosted by CLU.
It was a tough opening quarter for the Bulldogs on both ends as their lone goal in the first six minutes came at the 4:30 mark from Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) as they trailed 3-1 with less than two minutes remaining.
With just over a minute left in the opening period, Spencer Sellwood (Irvine, CA) pulled Redlands within one, 3-2. That goal though, was the final tally of the half for the Maroon and Grey as they trailed 4-2 at intermission. Even though they had a lull on the offensive end across the second eight minutes UR's defensive unit stood tough limiting CLU to just one goal as they stayed within striking distance.
In the third quarter the Bulldogs continued their pressure on the defensive end, holding the Kingsmen scoreless, which extended their scoreless run to 13:18. On the other side the Bulldog offense scored twice, which deadlocked the game at four thanks to goals from Andrew Higginson (San Diego, CA) and Drake Moody (Camarillo, CA).
The Kingsmen regrouped to start the fourth quarter going back on top as the Bulldogs allowed their first goal across 14:53. After a second CLU goal, Sellwood made it a one-goal differential on a power play with 3:20 to left. But unfortunately for the Bulldogs they were unable to find the back of the net again and lost 8-5.
Sellwood was the only Bulldog with multiple goals (2) and Moody was the only other player with a multi-point game (2) after scoring once and assisting on another. Liam Murphy (Placentia, CA) ended his fantastic tournament with nine saves, a .529 save percentage, and had two steals.
The Bulldogs and Kingsmen each had 27 shots, but CLU shot .296 versus the .185 for Redlands. That shooting percentage was the only area where there was a noticeable gap between the two teams. Redlands has now lost all three match-ups with the Kingsmen this season, but might have another chance in the Collegiate National Championships in a couple weeks.
Redlands will now enter the USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate National Championship Semi-Finals against Johns Hopkins University with game time to be announced later this week. All related information for the tournament will also be posted on goredlands.com.