2023 Men's Water Polo Schedule
REDLANDS, Calif. - The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team will open the 2023 season as the defending USA Water Polo Division III National Champions with a trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the Air Force Academy Invitational.
The Bulldogs currently have 20 scheduled games not including tournaments. Of the 20 games nine will be at the Thompson Aquatic Center (TAC), six will be true road games (all in conference) along with five neutral site contests.
In 2022 the Bulldogs finished 17-15, 5-6 in SCIAC, which put them fifth in the regular season. Due to Caltech not being able to complete the season the SCIAC Tournament was expanded to six teams allowing the Bulldogs to qualify as the No. 5 seed.
Redlands' home opener will be the Inland Empire Classic which will run on Saturday-Sunday, September 9-10. Over the two days Redlands will take on Fresno Pacific, UC Irvine, Austin College and Air Force.
Following a 13-day hiatus, the Bulldogs will start their SCIAC schedule with the University of La Verne (ULV) on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 11:00 a.m. The Leopards finished ninth in SCIAC a year ago at 0-10 and they were 7-21 overall. In 2022 the Bulldogs lost their non-conference game at the Triton Invitational against the Leos but won their conference meeting.
The home SCIAC opener for the Maroon and Grey will come against the defending regular season champions Pomona-Pitzer. The Sagehens went 17-15, 9-1 SCIAC. That lone SCIAC loss and two of those 15 losses came against Bulldogs. The two sides will meet on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m.
The last weekend of September the Bulldogs will go back to non-conference competition as they head to Claremont for the Gary Troyer Tournament. UR will compete only one day and will face off against Division I Pacific University (CA) at 10:20 a.m. and then Augustana College at 3:40 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30.
Pacific went 22-7 in 2022 including a 17-7 mark against ranked Division I schools. Augustana will be competing in only their third season and are coming off a 14-6 season in 2022.
Redlands will begin October with a home matchup with Caltech on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m. The Bulldogs beat the Beavers 17-10 and are now 24-0 all-time against them. Caltech was unable to complete their 2022 season and finished 3-8.
The next tournament will be the California Baptist University (CBU) Lancer Invitational where UR will play three games across two days in Riverside on Oct. 6-7. The first game will be on Saturday against Santa Clara University at 12:40 p.m. and then against Fresno Pacific University at 4:40 p.m. On Sunday they will face off with the University of Toronto at 12:40 p.m.
The Bulldogs and Broncos have faced each other 12 times with the Bulldogs holding a 4-8 record with the last meeting coming in 2021. Santa Clara was 12-14 in 2022.
The Sunbirds and Bulldogs met for the first time in 2022 at the TAC when the Bulldogs won 22-7. FPU finished 3-23 last season.
In 2022 the Varsity Blues from Toronto went 15-5 which included a 20-15 loss to California Lutheran University (CLU).
On Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 7:00 p.m. the Bulldogs will be at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) for a SCIAC game. The Stags finished fourth in 2022 with a 12-15, 6-4 SCIAC record. The Bulldogs went 1-2 against the Stags but that lone win came in the first round of the SCIAC Tournament.
A few days later on Oct. 14 Redlands will host Cal Lutheran at 11:00 a.m. on Homecoming. The Kingsmen went 17-15, 7-4 SCIAC a year ago. They had beaten the Bulldogs three times during the season, which included the SCIAC Tournament Championship game, but Redlands picked up the 11-6 win in the Division III Collegiate National Championship.
On Oct. 18 the Bulldogs will be in Los Angeles for a matchup with Occidental College at 7:00 p.m. The Tigers were the regular season runners-up at 8-3 and finished with a 13-14 overall record. The Tigers won both matchups against UR by a total of three goals in 2022.
The Bulldogs then return home for a stretch of four of five at the TAC, starting with Chapman University on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 11:00 a.m. The Panthers were sixth at 4-6 in SCIAC and 11-14 overall. Redlands swept Chapman 2-0 last season.
The Bulldogs will then welcome in non-conference opponent Biola University (CA) on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m. The Eagles went 15-17 in only their second season as a program. One of those wins came at the TAC when they snuck past the Bulldogs 9-7 in their first matchup.
The final road game of October will be at Whittier College on the 25th at 7:00 p.m. The Poets have historically been one of the best programs in the conference but they finished seventh in in the conference at 11-19, 3-8 SCIAC. The Bulldogs won 13-11 at home and lost 13-10 on the road in 2022.
To end October the Bulldogs host ULV at 11:00 a.m. on the 28th and then Cal Baptist at 4:00 p.m. The matchup with the Lancers will be the 34th all time meeting with CBU holding the 25-8 advantage and they have won nine in-a-row including a 13-9 win last season at the TAC.
In November Redlands wraps up the regular season with three games, two on the road and one at home, all of which are SCIAC games. On November 4 they play Pomona-Pitzer for the second time, this time in Claremont with action at 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 7:00 p.m. the Bulldogs will be in Pasadena for their last road game as they face Caltech.
To end the regular season Redlands welcomes CMS into the TAC for senior day at 11:00 a.m.
The SCIAC Tournament returns to its normal four-team format with the top-four teams qualifying and the higher seeds hosting on Friday and Sunday, Nov. 17 and 19.