While playing at the Thompson Aquatic Center for the first time since September 14, the University of Redlands men's water polo team put together two very exciting matches on Saturday, earning split results. The Bulldogs opened the day with a defensive battle against Santa Clara University but came up short in the final minutes in a 6-7 decision. The Maroon and Gray's second contest saw the team rally back on more than one occasion to eventually nab a hard-fought 16-15 victory over Cal Baptist University in golden-goal overtime.
Against the CBU Lancers, the Bulldogs faced an early two-goal deficit before clawing their way back to tie it up at six apiece midway through the second period. During this stretch, the team saw five different players score the opening goals, with freshman driver Kevin Chapa (Carlsbad, CA) providing two.
Redlands gained its first lead of the game with a goal by junior center-defender Nelson Glendinning (Philadelphia, PA) with 33 seconds remaining in the second stanza.
Early in the third period, senior center Alex Keith (Bellevue, WA) made it an 8-6 game with his first netter of the contest.
But the momentum quickly shifted back to Cal Baptist, which fired off four unanswered scores to take a 10-8 lead.
Redlands' freshman center Matthew Shippen (Santa Maria, CA) cut the deficit to one with a late score in the third frame.
However, once again, the Lancers caught fire and rattled off back-to-back goals for a 12-9 advantage early in the fourth period.
But the Bulldogs refused to go away, as senior center David Sekula (LaGrange, IL), Shippen, and senior driver Michael Robinson (Corona, CA) found the back of the net by the 4:56-mark of the quarter.
With just over two minutes to go in regulation, sophomore center-defender Mark Zikov (La Quint, CA) fired off the game-tying goal. Stellar defense held off any final offensive efforts by the Lancers, resulting in the overtime.
After the teams traded netters to make it 15-15, junior center-defender Jake Funk (Fremont, CA) uncorked the game-winning score with only 56 seconds left in the sudden-victory period for the exciting Bulldog win.
Sophomore goalkeeper Chris Sekula (LaGrange, IL) amassed nine saves while patrolling the Redlands net in a complete-game performance.
Against Santa Clara, the Bulldogs impressed defensively with big-time stops. In a back-and-forth affair that saw three ties, Redlands knotted the score at six with 5:28 remaining in the fourth period.
Unfortunately for the Maroon and Gray, the Broncos converted a breakaway goal about four minutes later, which proved to be the difference in the tight contest.
Funk and Chapa each scored twice, while junior center John Koning (Poway, CA) and Shippen each found the back of the net once.
The Bulldogs (4-14) travel to Loyola Marymount University on Thursday, October 16, for a 3 p.m. non-conference game.
