The University of Redlands men's water polo team took on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on a beautiful Saturday at the Thompson Aquatic Center on Homecoming Weekend. Throughout an intense yet balanced Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) tilt, the Bulldogs, unfortunately, came up on the short end of a 10-11 decision.

The first six minutes of the contest saw great defense from both teams as neither could put one through the posts. First-year goalkeeper Liam Murphy (Placentia, CA) made some highlight-reel stops to hold CMS scoreless.

At the 2:22-minute mark senior attacker Carter Kerwin (Bakersfield, CA) netted the first goal of the game off a quick pass from senior center defender Carl Matthews (Yorba Linda, CA) to put Redlands up 1-0. However, the Stags scored the equalizer at 42 seconds to finish the first period knotted at 1-1.

Both teams traded scores during the next period with CMS taking a slight 4-3 lead. Nonetheless, with just three seconds left on the clock, Kerwin found junior attacker Chris Frejlach (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) to tie things up at 4-4 to enter halftime.

The team got off to a hot start to open the third as senior attacker Kyle Jackson (Naperville, IL) gave the Bulldogs a 5-4 advantage just 15 seconds into the period.

Just as the momentum seemed to be shifting in favor of the Stags, first-year center Michael Driscoll (Escondido, CA) knocked down a goal to equalize the score at 6-6.

Now with just 16 seconds left in the third, senior attacker Spencer Allen (Long Beach, CA) executed a perfect, no-look goal for an 8-9 score.

Although CMS gained its biggest lead of the day at 11-8, the Bulldogs clawed their way back with a successful penalty shot from Frejlach. After a quick Redlands timeout and an exclusion drawn by sophomore attacker Tor Cole (Malibu, CA), junior attacker Jasen Swan (Glendora, CA) found the back of the net on a power-play goal to pull within one at 10-11.

Unfortunately, time ran out for the Bulldogs to complete the comeback, resulting in a tough 10-11 loss.

Redlands (11-11, 4-4 SCIAC) looks to flip the script as they host the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran University on Wednesday, October 30, at 5 p.m.