CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team has done it again pulling off yet another upset during the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament stunning No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer 9-8 on the road.
The Bulldogs have now upset No. 4 Claremont-M-S and No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer to advance to the SCIAC Tournament Championship Game, which will take place on Sunday, November 20 at 2:00pm in Thousand Oaks, CA against No. 3 California Lutheran University who held off No. 2 Occidental College 16-14 in four OT's.
Both the Bulldogs and the Kingsmen have now qualified for the USA Water Polo Division III National Championships, which will take place on December 3-4. Whoever wins this game will host the two-day event, which will include the top two teams from the East Coast Conferences (MIT and Johns Hopkins).
"Our mentality all season has been to rely on our defense to win games," explained Head Coach Ryan Hall. "We feel like if we can keep the scoring low we have a great chance at winning. These last two games we have held our opponents to 2-for-21 on man-up advantages and I believe that proved the difference here tonight."
The Maroon and Grey held their second opponent in the SCIAC Tournament to single digits and was forced to come from behind against the Sagehens Friday night. UR trailed 6-4 at the half, but used three goals in the third quarter to swing the momentum before adding two goals in the fourth, which included the game-winner with under two minutes to play to pick up the upset.
It was back and forth in the early stages with neither team taking no more than a one-goal lead until PP would extend it with 1:11 to play in the second period. Drake Moody (Camarillo, CA) scored the first goal of the game two minutes in and Ron Gvishi (Kiryat Tivón, Israel) added the second to end the first quarter. Andrew Higginson (San Diego, CA) connected for the two Bulldog goals in the second quarter as the Sagehens would take the lead into the break.
The difference in the game came in the third quarter where the Bulldogs held the Sagehens scoreless over the eight minutes, while getting three connections from Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA), Gvishi, and Andrew Sorensen (Long Beach, CA) that put UR on top 7-6. PP tied things up quickly on their opening possession to start the fourth, but Gvishi was quick to respond as he completed his hat trick with a goal at the 6:16 mark. With 2:08 to play SCIAC Player of the Year Sam Sasaki would convert to even the game up once again, but that would be the last time PP would bend the twine as Jake Rose (San Diego, CA) would convert on a 6-on-5 with 1:37 to play, which proved to be the game-winner. In that sequence the Bulldogs got a shot off, which was saved by the Sagehen keeper, the rebound went straight to Clinton, who found Rose on the back post who one-timed a finish.
Gvishi finished with three goals and two assists, Higginson added two goals and an assist, and Clinton posted a goal, an assist and a game and career high seven drawn exclusions.
Pomona-Pitzer had a couple looks to force OT down the stretch as they earned a man-up advantage with 1:37 left and then again with :39 seconds to go, but both opportunities came away empty as the Redlands defensive unit stood tough.
Liam Murphy (Placentia, CA) again played all 32:00 minutes finishing with 14 saves, three steals and a .636 save percentage.
Redlands was outshot 32-21 for the game, but was 3-for-9 on power plays, while holding Pomona-Pitzer to just 1-for-11 on their chances. PP also had two five-meter penalties shots, which were both denied by Murphy.