The University of Redlands men's water polo team celebrated its seniors on Saturday with a resounding 22-8 win over Caltech during its final Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) dual match of the season. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as more than a dozen players found the back of the net in the home finale.
Senior driver Jeff Parsons (Newark, CA) led the Maroon and Gray offense with a four-goal outburst. Sophomore driver Steven Cully (Anaheim Hills, CA) provided a hat-trick performance, while junior center-defender Alex Dow (Temple City, CA), junior driver Adam Oakes (San Bernardino, CA), freshman driver Mike Pounds (Lake Elsinore, CA), and freshman center Tommy Hartwig (Vista, CA) chipped in two netters, representing the Bulldogs' other multi-score performers.
Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Abbott (Alta Loma, CA) joined forces with freshman goalkeepers Luis Mendoza (Perris, CA) and Mark Laturno (Bonita, CA) in the cage. The trio collected six saves for Redlands.
Later that day, the Bulldogs headed to Riverside for a final non-conference tune-up against Cal Baptist University before next weekend's SCIAC Tournament. Despite overcoming an early deficit, Redlands fell short in a 7-9 decision against the Lancers.
The Bulldogs rallied back from two goals down to tie it up at five apiece late in the third period. A back-and-forth battle ensued with Cal Baptist finally edging out the Maroon and Gray with two unanswered goals in the final four minutes of the game.
Senior center Blake vanHartesvelt (Mercer Island, WA) and sophomore driver Clint Freeman (Brentwood, CA) tossed in two netters each, while Parsons, sophomore center Grant Harrington (Poway, CA), and junior driver Patrick Roth (Cottonwood Heights, UT) scored one apiece.
Abbott racked up six saves in the loss.
Redlands (14-16, 5-2 SCIAC) enters the SCIAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed and faces No. 6 Occidental College at 11:45 a.m. on Friday at Las Flores Park in La Verne.
