The University of Redlands men's water polo team rebounded from Wednesday's loss with a solid 19-13 victory over the Tigers of Occidental College in today's final Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) dual match of the season.
The Maroon and Gray gained a five-goal explosion from senior center-defender Andrew Smith-Jones (Annapolis, MD), who led all scorers. Senior center Blake vanHartesvelt (Mercer Island, WA) and senior driver Bo Sidhu (Indio, CA) both supplied hat tricks, while junior driver Cabot Ferrill (Poway, CA) and senior center Brendan Meaney (Palm Springs, CA) each found the back of the net on two occasions. Sophomore goalkeeper Jessie Gunther (Perris, CA) protected the Redlands goal and made eight stops in the process.
With the victory, the Bulldogs earn the top seed for the SCIAC Tournament, which takes place Friday, Nov. 12, through Sun., Nov. 14, at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. Redlands faces off against eighth-seeded Caltech in the first-round match at 7 p.m. on Friday.
