LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team suffered a tough 9-7 loss on the road Saturday against Occidental College.
The Maroon and Grey jumped out in front 1-0, capitalizing on a 6-on-5 opportunity with Michael Maher (Fremont, CA) connecting. But after that OXY went on a 3-0 run to close out the quarter. The Tigers extended their lead to 4-1 at the start of the 2nd, but this time it was UR battling back with two of their own from Drake Moody (Camarillo, CA) and Max Wagener (Piedmont, CA) to help the Bulldogs get within one at the break.
It was a big 3rd Quarter with six goals being scored. The Tigers and Bulldogs swapped tallies early in the frame to keep it a one score game. Oxy then tacked on another two to extend the advantage to three at 7-4, but that run came to an end at the 2:46 mark as Tor Cole (Malibu, CA) would find the back of the net draining a 5-meter penalty.
U of R attempted a comeback in the 4th outscoring OXY 2-1. Wagener started the scoring off with a man advantage and then came back under :08 seconds to play to add his third of the game. But the final push wouldn't be enough as Redlands would fall on the road dropping them to 5-16, 2-5 SCIAC.
Redlands took 28 shots on the game, shooting .250, while going 4-for-10 on power plays. Brandon Khalil (Bakersfield, CA) played all 32:00 minutes between the posts and finished with eight saves, collecting a .471 save percentage.
Redlands returns home to the Thompson Aquatic Center this week for a pair of home games. They host Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday, October 20 beginning at 7:00pm will then take on Cal Lutheran University on Saturday, October 23 beginning at 11:00am.