On Halloween night in Pasadena, the University of Redlands men's water polo team received contributions from a variety of players en route to a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory over Caltech, 17-7. The result marks the second win in a row for the Bulldogs as they build momentum in preparation for the SCIAC Championship Tournament.
Midway through the first period, Redlands took a 2-1 lead when junior center Grant Harrington (Poway, CA) found the back of the net. The Maroon and Gray poured on the offensive pressure, and at the end of the first stanza, junior driver Quinn Curl (San Mateo, CA) tallied his second score of the contest to extend the Bulldog lead to 7-1.
Senior driver Patrick Roth (Cottonwood Heights, UT) made it 8-1 when he scored his only goal of the game with 6:22 remaining in the second period. By the time the two sides swapped sides, Redlands was in complete control of the contest and owned a 10-2 advantage on the scoreboard.
Freshman center-defender Jake Funk (Fremont, CA) recorded the first score of the third stanza, extending the Bulldog advantage to nine goals. Heading into the fourth and final period, the U of R held a 12-5 lead and was ready to tack on some more scores to finish out the game.
After a Caltech goal cut the lead to just six, freshman center-defender Kyle Blandin (Beaverton, OR) put the contest out of reach for the Beavers, finding the back of the net with 6:26 left in the fourth. Sophomore driver Mike Pounds (Lake Elsinore, CA) added a goal of his own less than a minute later, and freshman driver Ryan Gonzales (Tustin, CA) scored a couple of more to secure the ten-goal triumph.
The combination of senior center-defender Matt Zaggy (St. Louis, MO), junior center-defender Christian Ogawa (Mira Mesa, CA) and freshman driver Paul Smallman (San Carlos, CA) combined for six goals on the night, tallying two apiece in the win.
In goal, junior starting goalkeeper Tyler Abbott (Alta Loma, CA) came up with five saves during his time between the pipes. Freshman goalkeepers Christian Jamison (San Bernardino, CA) and Austin Womack (Vista, CA) also garnered valuable playing experience in the contest, notching six saves between the two.
Redlands (5-19, 3-4) returns to action at the Thompson Aquatic Center on Saturday for its final two games of the regular season against the University of La Verne at 11 a.m. and Cal Baptist University at 3 p.m.
