PASADENA, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team snapped their two-game losing skid Wednesday night in a lopsided 17-10 win over Caltech.
Redlands remains over .500 at 10-8, 3-2 SCIAC, currently sitting 4th in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Standings.
The Bulldogs came out ready to play from the onset, scoring three unanswered in the opening three minutes. Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) scored the opener and Andrew Higginson (San Diego, CA) tacked on a pair to make it 3-0.
After Jake Rose (San Diego, CA) scored with 3:45 left in the first to give Redlands the 4-1 lead, the Maroon and Grey found themselves up 4-2 heading into the second. Caltech started the period off quickly with three unanswered that tied the game up at four at the 6:28 mark. The game felt like it was going to be a tight one throughout, but Higginson completed the hat trick with 3:29 left in the half, which sparked an 8-0 Bulldog run that spanned into the beginning of the third.
Ron Gvishi (Kiryat Tivón, Israel) scored four times during the push and the other goals came from Curren McCarthy (San Clemente, CA), Spencer Sellwood (Irvine, CA), and Alec Abrahamian (Glendale, CA).
The Bulldogs and Beavers would trade goals through the end of the third quarter with Redlands holding the 14-7 advantage.
UR then eliminated any doubt with the first two goals in the fourth. Max Wagener (Piedmont, CA) and Gvishi each scored in the first four minutes to make it 16-7. Then with 1:43 left, Reed Caron (Sacramento, CA) got his second as the Bulldogs picked up the road win.
Gvishi led the way with five goals and an assist. Joining him with six points was Higginson who had three goals and three assists. Overall, 15 different Bulldogs had a goal and/or an assist. Brandon Khalil (Bakersfield, CA) played all 32:00 minutes and finished with 14 saves and a steal.
Redlands as a team had a .500 shot percentage to the .357 for Caltech. They also had six more shot attempts. They did face two penalties, one of which was not converted, and they were unable to take advantage of their powerplay opportunities (0-5).
Less than 24 hours after their road game, the Bulldogs return to the Thompson Aquatic Center for a non-conference game with California Baptist University, Thursday, October 13 beginning at 4:00pm.