REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team looked to bounce back Saturday following a loss to Cal Lutheran Wednesday afternoon. The Bulldogs took on Occidental College at the Thompson Aquatic Center, and despite never trailing by more than two would fall 8-6.
The loss moves the Bulldogs to 2-2 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play and 9-8 overall.
The Bulldogs spotted the Tigers two goals in the first 1:37 but evened the game with 1:12 remaining in the first quarter after Spencer Sellwood (Irvine, CA) and Jake Rose (San Diego, CA) would connect :42 seconds apart.
In the second quarter the Tigers re-took the lead :45 seconds in, but Andrew Higginson (San Diego, CA) would respond with his first of the game off a feed from Ron Gvishi (Kiryat Tivón, Israel). That goal for the Bulldogs would be their only score of the quarter as they trailed by one, 4-3, heading to half.
Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) had the equalizer for Redlands at the 7:14 mark of the third quarter. Gvishi picked up his second assist of the game on what was the third goal that tied the game. Following a power-play goal for the Tigers, Gvishi found the back of the net for the first time, also converting a 6-on-5, with 2:24 remaining in the third.
Occidental scored with :33 seconds left in the third and then less than two minutes into the fourth with what would be the game-winning goal that made it 7-5. The winning goal came after a penalty was awarded to the Tigers with 6:06 remaining in the game.
Being down for the fifth time, the Bulldogs scored with 4:21 left thanks to Alec Abrahamian (Glendale, CA). The final four minutes included five shots from the Bulldogs with two of them being saved and another hitting the crossbar. Then trailing by one with two minutes to go the Bulldogs had a chance to tie the game up following a stop, but a turnover and a quick transition goal by the Tigers would put the game out of reach.
The Bulldogs struggled in their power-play opportunities, going 2-for-12 (.167). They held the shot advantage, 28-22, but were only able to shoot .214 versus the .364 the Tigers shot. Add in the converted penalty for Occidental and the two-goal deficit was close enough to overcome if there was a little more efficiency, especially inside set.
Brandon Khalil (Bakersfield, CA) started in goal and posted five saves and a steal. The six goals came from six different Bulldogs and the three assists came from Abrahamian, who had one, and Gvishi who had two. Higginson, Gvishi, Sellwood, and Clinton each had two steals.
The Bulldogs will travel to Pasadena this Wednesday, October 12 for their fifth SCIAC game of the season, and their first and only meeting against the Caltech Beavers. Game time set for 7:00pm.