Courtesy: Redlands Athletics
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men’s Water Polo team opened up Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play Thursday afternoon, but couldn’t come away with the win as they fell 6-5 to California Lutheran University.
The Bulldogs who came in ranked No. 8 in the Division III polls had opportunities to upset the No. 2 ranked Kingsmen but were unable to convert down the stretch as they drop to 1-7, 0-1 SCIAC.
It was a defensive battle all 32:00 minutes. UR earned the lone goal in the opening quarter from Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) who connected at the 5:09 mark. Then in the 2nd, CLU responded with two of their own that gave them a 2-1 advantage at intermission.
Halfway through the 3rd quarter Drake Moody (Camarillo, CA) got on the scoreboard getting fed by Clinton that tied things up. He then found the back of the goal for a second time at the 1:05 mark this time being found by Ron Gvishi.
With the game all tied up at 3-3 heading into the 4th quarter, both teams showed their offense over the final 8:00 minutes combining for five goals. UR converted a power play with Andrew Sorensen (Long Beach, CA) getting fed by Tor Cole (Malibu, CA) and then extended the advantage to two capitalizing on a CLU turnover as Clinton would connect after getting assisted by Michael Maher (Fremont, CA).
But the upset would fall short as the Kingsmen would rally over the final six minutes with three unanswered, which included the equalizer at the 2:07 mark and eventually the game winner with :11 seconds to play. UR would get one final attempt to force OT but couldn’t get a shot off as time expired.
The Maroon and Grey finished with 27 shots and were 1-for-8 on power plays.
Liam Murphy (Placentia, CA) played all 32:00 minutes between the posts and finished with 11 saves and a .647 save percentage. Moody led the offense taking seven shots with two goals, a drawn exclusion and a game high six steals. Clinton added five shots with two goals and an assist and Sorensen added a goal and a steal.
Redlands returns to their non-conference schedule this weekend, September 18-19 when they take part in the AGGIE Roundup. Over the two games they will take on Cal Baptist (Sept. 18 @ 1:00pm), Santa Clara (Sept. 18 @ 5:30pm), and San Jose State (Sept. 19 @ 10:00am).