CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team who was the No. 5 seed in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament came away with an upset win over the No. 4 seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7-6 at Axelrood Pool Wednesday evening and with this win have now advanced to the SCIAC Tournament Semifinals this coming Friday.
"It was a total team victory and a defensive effort tonight," explained Head Coach Ryan Hall. To hold a really good team like CMS to two goals in the second half is a testament to the guys' effort tonight and to Liam Murphy who had a great performance between the posts tonight."
Redlands improves to 14-14, 5-6 SCIAC and will now faceoff against No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer this Friday, November 18 at 7:00pm. The only match-up between these two programs this season went the way of the Maroon and Grey back on October 1 who pulled off the stunner during the Gary Troyer 9-8, their first win over the Sagehens since 2016.
The Bulldogs and Stags were tied or within a goal of each other through the beginning of the third quarter. After the Stags opened the scoring :17 seconds into the game, Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) tied the game at one seconds later.
Following a scoreless run of 6:19, Max Wagener (Piedmont, CA) converted on a penalty to even the game at two with 1:04 left in the opening frame.
In the second quarter Redlands took their first lead of the contest, 4-3, with less than two minutes remaining in the half. Clinton scored his second goal to tie the game at three in the first minute of the period. Andrew Higginson (San Diego, CA) then got the lead for UR with 1:58 left after he converted the team's second penalty of the half.
Right before intermission CMS was able to build momentum tying the game up for the fourth time as the half ended deadlocked at four.
The Bulldogs would put themselves in control in the third quarter with the first three tallies as they went in front 7-4. Higginson and Clinton each scored in the opening two minutes with Alec Abrahamian (Glendale, CA) recording his first assist of the game on Clinton's hat-trick connection. The third goal of the quarter came with 2:28 remaining as Higginson again found the back of the net, his third of the game, which came on the Bulldogs' third penalty attempt.
The Stags would score in the final two minutes of the third to get within two and the Bulldogs would get held scoreless over the final 10:28. But their stifling defensive unit did not allow another CMS goal until there was only six seconds remaining in the game. They held the Stags to just two goals over the final 17:29, making the Higginson goal in the third the game-winning goal.
It was a competitive game statistically with the Bulldogs holding a 27-24 shot advantage, a .259-.250 shot percentage edge, held CMS to a 1-for-10 mark on powerplay opportunities, and converted on three penalty attempts.
Higginson finished with a hat trick, two steals, and a drawn exclusion. Clinton also scored a hat trick as six of the seven Bulldog goals came from Higginson and Clinton with Wagener adding the lone seventh. Abrahamian, a second team All-SCIAC selection, had an assist, and a drawn exclusion and Spencer Sellwood (Irvine, CA) added an assist as well. Liam Murphy (Placentia, CA) made his first start since October 5 and made seven saves and allowed only six goals as he posted a .538 save percentage and his seventh win of the season.
Hall stated that " the guys were excited to play tonight. I don't think nerves factored into it. We had a good gameplan and knew that if we executed we would have a shot to win. Very tough challenge ahead of us this Friday, but we will be ready."