The University of Redlands men's water polo team embarked upon the 2015 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) schedule with a tough match-up at Whittier College on Saturday morning. After overcoming a five-goal deficit, the Bulldogs suffered a buzzer-beater loss to the Poets by a score of 9-10.
The Maroon and Gray jumped out to a 3-2 lead after the first period and then held onto a 5-4 advantage at the midway point of the game.
Unfortunately for Redlands, the Poet offense lit up the scoreboard throughout the third to take a 9-5 lead.
During the intense fourth frame, the Bulldogs came all the way back to tie it up at nine apiece with sophomore center-defender Danny Hartwig (Vista, CA) scoring the critical goal with four seconds left on the clock.
After a Whittier timeout, the Poets set up a quick play to fire off the game-winner at the buzzer, handing Redlands a tough loss.
Hartwig, sophomore center Matt Shippen (Santa Maria, CA), and junior driver Zac Polmanteer (Long Beach, CA) each found the back of the net on two occasions, while junior center-defender Mark Zikov (La Quinta, CA), junior center Eugene Lee (La Puente, CA), and senior center John Koning (Poway, CA) scored once.
Junior goalkeeper Chris Sekula (LaGrange, IL) performed admirably in the Bulldogs' cage, racking up 16 stops in the loss.
Redlands (9-11, 0-1 SCIAC) looks forward to another rematch with Chapman University when it hosts the Panthers in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) tilt on Wednesday, October 21, at 7 p.m. in the Thompson Aquatic Center.
