The second day of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Men's Water Polo Championship Tournament took place on the campus of the University of Redlands at the Thompson Aquatic Center. With today's results, the stage is set for an exciting championship match-up between the top two seeds form Whittier College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the finale at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday.
The top-seeded Whittier College Poets faced off against the fourth-seeded University of Redlands Bulldogs in the second semifinal of the day.
The Poets jumped out to an early one-goal lead, but Redlands' senior driver Michael Robinson (Corona, CA) answered back with his first goal of the game to tie the contest at one apiece. The Bulldogs grabbed a 2-1 advantage after sophomore center driver Mark Zikov (La Quinta, CA) fired home a score. However, the Poets netted back-to-back goals to take a 3-2 lead into the second period.
The second-period scoring mirrored that of the first period, with the Bulldogs registering two goals to the Poets' three. The Poets held a slight 6-4 advantage after the end of the second stanza.
The game continued to remain physical thorough its entirety, as numerous fouls and exclusions were dished out to both sides.
The Bulldogs struggled in the third period, as their lone goal from junior center John Koning (Poway, CA) kept them alive. Whittier's freshman attacker Massimiliano Mirarchi (Rome, Italy) located the back of the net twice while senior center Goran Mataic (Split, Croatia) fired home one score.
Down 5-9, the Bulldogs enhanced their play in the fourth quarter by erupting for four goals. Freshman driver Kevin Chapa (Carlsbad, CA) emerged with two scores, while freshman center Matthew Shippen (Santa Maria CA) and Koning each found the back of the net.
But the Poets kept up their consistent offense with a three-goal showing of their own, resulting in the 12-9 final. Mataic finished off his solid performance with a pair of goals in the last stanza.
Whittier faces off against CMS in the championship game at 2:15 p.m., while Redlands takes on No. 3 Chapman University in the third-place match at 12:30 p.m.
Saturday's first semifinal match featured the second-seeded CMS Stags and the third-seeded Chapman Panthers in a quality battle between talented teams.
The Stags jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, aided by two goals from junior attacker Daniel Cogan (Columbus, OH). Senior goalkeeper James Kelly (Greenwich, CT) was lights out between the pipes by corralling four saves in the opening frame.
CMS continued its reign after trading goals with the Panthers in the second period.
Chapman began to rally back, cutting the deficit to two at 5-7, as senior utility player Jake Gross (San Diego, CA) netted three scores to keep the Panthers within striking distance. However, CMS continued to respond with no hesitation and eventually took home the win, 10-7.
Earlier in the day, the ninth-seeded Caltech Beavers took on the seventh-seeded University of La Verne Leopards in a win-or-go-home match.
A tight game ensued in the first period, as the Leopards notched a late first-period goal to grab the lead at 5-4.
However, the Leopards held the Beavers to just three goals for the remainder of the contest, earning a dominating 20-7 win. Junior driver Bryan Jimenez (Commerce, CA) and freshman utility player Makai DeNeve-Amam (Park Ridge, IL) led the Leopards with four goals each. Senior goalkeeper Daniel Newell (Chicago, IL) performed stellar in the goal, raking in 13 saves.
Sophomore Chris Bradley (Half Moon Bay, CA) netted three scores for the Beavers. Senior goalkeeper Ben Grabowski (Lake Forest Park, WA) hauled in nine saves.
The fifth-seeded Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen faced off against the eighth-seeded Occidental College Tigers in the fourth game of the day.
An even match brewed in the first period, as both teams netted four goals. Sophomore attacker Paul Bergevin (Los Altos, CA) started hot by netting three scores for Occidental, while junior utility player Jack Acampora (Northridge, CA) fired home two scores for Cal Lutheran.
Cal Lutheran held Occidental scoreless in the second period, as senior goalkeeper Jesse Owen (Riverside, CA) corralled two saves, thanks to tough play by the Kingsmen's defensive unit.
However, Occidental refused to go away and netted four goals in each of the two remaining periods. But Cal Lutheran played equally as powerful by scoring five goals in the third period and four goals in the fourth period, thus taking home a 16-12 victory.
Junior goalkeeper Josh Needleman (Boca Raton, FL) finished with 14 saves, and Bergevin finished with five goals.
Lastly, a match-up between the sixth-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens and the seventh-seeded Leopards rounded out the day with a quality match.
La Verne jumped out to a 3-2 advantage, compliments of three scores from J. Vega. Pomona-Pitzer was within striking distance as sophomore attacker Tommy Turner (Thousand Oaks, CA) and junior defender Phillip Clayman (Clovis, CA) registered one goal apiece.
La Verne continued to produce big numbers by scoring 10 goals over the next three periods, as compared to Pomona-Pitzer's seven.
The Leopards' scoring efforts were highlighted by a five-goal second period, with netters coming from four different players.
La Verne took home the 13-9 victory with J. Vega's four goals to lead the offense. Junior attacker Viken Huening (Elmwood Park, IL) and senior driver Jonathon Jarvis (Upland, CA) finished with two goals each.
Day three's competition will be highlighted by the first-place game between top-seeded Whittier and second-seeded CMS at 2:15. Redlands and Chapman battle it out for third place at 12:30 p.m., while La Verne and Cal Lutheran face off in the fifth-place game at 10:45 a.m. The day's action begins with Pomona-Pitzer and Occidental squaring off in the seventh-place game at 9 a.m.
