The University of Redlands men's water polo team traveled to Orange for its first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) bout against Chapman University. However, the Panthers prevailed in the tight contest, handing the Bulldogs a 10-12 loss on Saturday morning.
After Chapman jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, the Bulldogs responded with a 5-2 run to briefly go ahead at the end of the second stanza. Redlands benefitted from a multi-faceted attack with junior driver Clint Freeman (Brentwood, CA) leading the charge by firing off two of his team-high four goals.
The tables turned in the third frame, as the Panthers converted four netters to the Maroon and Gray's single score. This proved to be the difference, with both teams finding the back of the net on three occasions in the final eight minutes.
In addition to Freeman, the Bulldog offense included single scores from junior driver Quinn Curl (San Mateo, CA), junior center-defender Christian Ogawa (Mira Mesa, CA), senior driver Patrick Roth (Cottonwood Heights, UT), sophomore center-defender David Sekula (LaGrange, IL), freshman driver Paul Smallman (San Carlos, CA), and sophomore driver Michael Robinson (Corona, CA).
Junior goalkeeper Tyler Abbott (Alta Loma, CA) patrolled the Redlands net but his saves were unavailable at the time of posting.
Redlands (3-18, 1-3 SCIAC) returns home on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. match-up against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.
