The University of Redlands men's water polo team jumped back into the pool on Friday, October 2, for two games of the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament in nearby Claremont. The Bulldogs opened the event with a solid 10-5 victory over NCAA Division III rival Johns Hopkins University (MD), before edging Fordham University (NY) in an 8-7 overtime decision.
Against the Blue Jays, the Bulldogs used a four-goal outburst in the second frame to create a sizeable lead for the eventual win. In addition, this offensive spurt came off of a quartet of scorers, with sophomore center Matt Shippen (Santa Maria, CA), senior center-defender Nelson Glendinning (Philadelphia, PA), junior center Eugene Lee (La Puente, CA), and junior center-defender Mark Zikov (La Quinta, CA) each finding the back of the net.
Shippen finished the match with a team-high three goals, while Lee and senior center John Koning (Poway, CA) offered two netters apiece.
No goalkeeper statistics were available at the time of posting.
In the Maroon and Gray's second match of the tournament, the team endured a slow start that kept it off of the scoreboard for the first two periods. However, the Bulldogs only trailed by three midway through the game due to a completely scoreless second stanza for both squads.
Redlands finally found the back of the net when Glendinnig scored with 5:40 left in the third period. Less than 90 seconds later, the Bulldogs cut their deficit to one with a Koning netter.
However, the Rams responded with back-to-back scores for another three-goal advantage early in the fourth frame.
Nonetheless, the Bulldogs dug deep to come up with a 3-0 run in the final 4:47 of regulation to force the overtime. Shippen initiated the comeback before sophomore driver Kevin Chapa (Carlsbad, CA) fired off a pair of goals to tie it up at five-all with a little over a minute remaining. Stellar defense kept the Rams off the board for most of the fourth, with junior goalkeeper Chris Sekula (LaGrange, IL) patrolling the goal for the Bulldogs.
The teams traded goals in the first two overtime periods, with Redlands' Lee coming up big, before sophomore center-defender Danny Hartwig (Vista, CA) provided the critical late-game score.
With the count knotted at seven, the Bulldogs needed one more netter in the sudden-victory frame, and Glendinning delivered with the game-winner just 33 seconds into the period.
Redlands (7-8) faces Washington & Jefferson College (PA) in Saturday's 11:30 a.m. match in Pomona-Pitzer Colleges' Haldeman Pool. The Bulldogs wrap up the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament with a 5:45 p.m. showdown against Cal Baptist University.
