The University of Redlands men's water polo team took on tough competition during day one of the UC Davis Aggie Invitational on Saturday.  In a back-and-forth battle that truly could have gone either way, the Bulldogs just missed out on the victory in a 10-11 decision to Fresno Pacific University.  Later in the day, the Maroon and Gray suffered a 9-17 loss to the host school.

After facing a five-goal deficit through the 3:59-mark of the second stanza against Fresno Pacific, the Bulldogs regrouped to eventually tie it up at eight-all.  Sophomore center Billy Clifford (Redlands, CA) initiated the comeback with his goal, before senior driver Kyle Murata (Brea, CA) found an open freshman driver Cole Kammerer (San Diego, CA) for the score on Redlands' next possession. 

Head Coach Tom Whittemore's rousing halftime speech set the tone for the continued comeback in the third period.  Junior center Matt Shippen (Santa Maria, CA) connected with Clifford to make it 5-7 with 7:06 remaining in the third.  Back-to-back saves by senior goalkeeper Chris Sekula (LaGrange, IL) inspired junior center-defender Max Taylor (Henderson, NV) to fire one past the FPU goalkeeper, cutting the Maroon and Gray's deficit to one.

After sophomore driver Aki Andersen's (Laguna Beach, CA) tough defensive play drew an exclusion on the Sunbirds, he went ahead and scored the equalizing goal with 4:56 left in the stanza.

The teams traded scores throughout the next 10 minutes of action, resulting in a knotted score at 10 apiece with 6:04 left in the game.  However, FPU managed one more score before the final whistle, while Redlands could not convert in the waning minutes.

Clifford led the Bulldogs with three goals, while seven other players each found the back of the net once. 

Sekula finished with 11 saves in a complete-game effort.

Redlands took on the No. 12 team in the country during the evening match but struggled to match the offensive prowess of the Aggies.  Senior center-defender Danny Hartwig (Vista, CA) paced the Bulldogs with three goals, while Shippen and senior center-defender Mark Zikov (La Quinta, CA) each scored twice.  Sekula recorded nine stops in the loss.

Redlands (2-8) continues to compete at the UC Davis Aggie Invite on Sunday with an 8 a.m. match against No. 17 San Jose State and a 2:40 p.m. showdown against the fourth-ranked University of Pacific.