The University of Redlands men's water polo team split a pair of games at the Gary Troyer Tournament in Claremont on Saturday. The Bulldogs dropped their first match, 11-13, against the United States Navy Academy (MD), before bouncing back for an impressive 14-11 victory against Johns Hopkins University.

In game one, the teams went back and forth in the first period, until NAVY scored the last two goals of the frame to control a 4-3 lead after one. The teams traded goals once again, that included a pair from junior attacker Chris Frejlach (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) that sent the teams into halftime at 5-6 in favor of the Midshipmen.

Senior center Cooper Krause (Denver, CO) got things going in the second period with a score just three minutes in to tie the game at 6-apiece. Although Navy scored the next two goals, the Maroon and Gray battled back with power-plays goals from Krause and senior center Carl Matthews (Yorba Linda, CA) to knot the game at 8-8 with 3:12 left in the third.

However, Navy tallied two more goals in the final minute and a half to help carry a 10-9 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, the Midshipmen maintained momentum and scored three consecutive goals to put them up 13-10. Senior attacker Spencer Allen (Long Beach, CA) continued to fight by scoring once more on a power play with nine seconds to go, but it was not enough in the 11-13 loss.

For the game, Frejlach scored three goals, while Allen registered two scores, one assist, and four steals.

Game two started similar to the fourth with back-and-forth action to make it 2-2 at the 2:59-mark in the first period. Although the Blue Jays pulled ahead by one, their aggressive style plagued them, as the Maroon and Gray caught fire with seven consecutive goals. Two were scored on power plays and three on five-meter penalty shots for a 9-3 lead with 28 seconds left in the half. Krause and Frejlach led the surge with two goals apiece.

However, the Bluejays scored in the final 12 seconds of the period and then came out of the break with four consecutive goals to cut their deficit to just 8-9 with 4:05 on the clock.

Redlands regained control when senior attacker Kyle Jackson (Naperville, IL) scored back-to-back goals to spark a 4-0 run that helped extend their lead to 13-8 by the 7:40-point in the fourth. Johns Hopkins scored three goals down the stretch, but the Bulldogs built enough of a cushion to hang on for the 14-11 victory.

Jackson and Krause led the Bulldogs with three goals each, while Krause also added a steal.

Redlands (9-8, 2-1 SCIAC) returns home for a conference matchup against the University of La Verne on Wednesday, October 9, at 7 p.m.