The University of Redlands men's water polo team battled through a top-notch showdown against the visiting Whittier College Poets in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest on Wednesday at the Thompson Aquatic Center.  Despite holding a slight 6-5 lead to start the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs suffered a short scoring drought that proved to be the difference in a 9-10 loss to the Poets.

Redlands jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off of quality scores by senior center-defender Mark Zikov (La Quinta, CA) and senior driver Kyle Murata (Brea, CA), but Whittier answered with back-to-back scores of its own to even the count with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter. 

With two seconds left on the clock, the Maroon and Gray gained a slight 3-2 advantage when junior center Matt Shippen (Santa Maria, CA) fired one into the back of the net.

After the teams traded scores in the second quarter, the Bulldogs nabbed a 6-3 lead with Zikov and junior driver Kevin Chapa (Carlsbad, CA) each unleashing a goal.

But the Poets refused to go away, eventually cutting the deficit to one at 5-6 late in the third period.

After Redlands scored the first goal of the final period to take a 7-5 advantage, Whittier erupted for five-straight goals to secure a sizeable lead with 3:58 still to play. 

The Maroon and Gray fought back to score two more, as senior center-defender Danny Hartwig (Vista, CA) and Murata found the back of the net to make it a one-score game. But the Bulldogs' final netter came with just three seconds left in the game, which was not enough time for them to make up the difference.

Senior goalkeeper Chris Sekula (LaGrange, IL) performed admirably by making 22 saves in a complete-game performance.

Redlands (14-13, 3-2 SCIAC) hosts Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges for Senior Day on Saturday, November 5, at 11 a.m.