REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team earned a blowout win over Ottawa University (AZ) Thursday 18-7 inside the Thompson Aquatic Center.
The Bulldogs have won four in a row and improve to 7-6, 1-0 SCIAC.
Ron Gvishi (Kiryat Tivon, Israel) got the scoring started at the 6:09 mark of the first quarter with Andrew Sorensen (Long Beach, CA) picking up the assist.
After the Spirit tied the game at one with 5:17 left in the first, the Bulldogs scored the next thirteen unanswered, which stretched into the third quarter. Gvishi scored five times during the run and Austin Galanski (Bakersfield, CA) tacked on two. Overall, seven different Bulldogs scored with another six adding assists, coming from Drake Moody (Camarillo, CA), Alec Abrahamian (Glendale, CA), Spencer Sellwood (Irvine, CA), Sorensen, Eamon Greathouse (Bainbridge Island, WA), and Owen Nishimura (Carlsbad, CA).
Midway through the third quarter Owen DeCourcy (Alameda, CA) put his name on the scoresheet as he made the score 15-2. The Spirit eventually found their groove on offense after that putting together a 5-0 run, which capped off the third period and through the first three plus minutes of the fourth to get within eight, 15-7. But with 3:47 left in the game, Head Coach Ryan Hall put his starters back in, which included Gvishi who scored his seventh and final goal of the game. The final two tallies came courtesy of Reed Caron (Sacramento, CA).
Redlands only outshot the Spirit 32-25, but they posted a shot percentage of .563 and were successful on 5-of-11 powerplays for a .455 powerplay percentage. It was also a very physical game with 17 exclusions (14-13) between the two sides.
Gvishi had as many goals by himself as the Spirit had as a team with seven. Galanski and Caron each posted two-goal games. Ten players scored and seven had assists with Sorensen and Nishimura leading the way with two apiece. Liam Murphy (Placentia, CA) and Brandon Khalil (Bakersfield, CA) split the first half and second half duties between the posts. Murphy made five saves and had two steals, Khalil finished with three stops and another steal.
The Bulldogs head to Claremont, CA for the Gary Troyer Tournament with three games on Saturday October 1, beginning with a SCIAC contest at Pomona-Pitzer beginning at 11:40a.m., followed by Johns Hopkins at 3:40p.m., and then an exhibition against Pomona-Pitzer at 6:20p.m.