The University of Redlands men's water polo team faced the tied-for-first-place Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown on Wednesday night. An early deficit proved to be too much as the Bulldogs dropped a 7-11 decision to the third-ranked team in NCAA Division III.
The Sagehens came out firing and quickly put up four goals with three minutes to go in the opening stanza.
Redlands pulled one back when junior driver Clint Freeman (Brentwood, CA) notched the Maroon and Gray's sole score of the first period.
Redlands slowly chipped away at the deficit, finally getting within in one at 5-6 and again at 6-7 during the third frame. The squad benefitted from a multi-faceted attack, with Freeman leading the charge with two netters during this stretch. Sophomore driver Michael Robinson (Corona, CA), senior driver Patrick Roth (Cottonwood, UT), and junior center Alex Keith (Bellevue, WA) also recorded goals for the Maroon and Gray.
However, Pomona-Pitzer uncorked four unanswered scores to put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.
Junior driver Quinn Curl (San Mateo, CA) capped off a late defensive struggle in the fourth period, finding the back of the net with three minutes to go in the game for Redlands' final goal.
Junior goalkeeper Tyler Abbott (Alta Loma, CA) provided 11 stops in the loss.
Redlands (3-17, 1-2 SCIAC) heads to Chapman University on Saturday for an 11 a.m. match. The Panthers currently boast a 3-1 mark in SCIAC, which places them fourth in the early standings.
