REDLANDS, Calif. – On senior day at the Thompson Aquatic Center (TAC) the University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team (20-8, 11-1 SCIAC) honored their six seniors:
Curren McCarthy (San Clemente, CA),
Andrew Higginson (San Diego, CA),
Alec Abrahamian (Glendale, CA),
Emerson Kropp (Denver, CO),
Dan Bajda (Lombard, Ill.), and
Spencer Sellwood (Irvine, CA) as they took down No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 11-10 in sudden death overtime following a highly contested and fiery contest that covered 36:00 minutes.
It was a defensive first half as the game was tied at one following eight minutes of play as
Nicolas Fedotov (Miami Beach, FL) scored the lone goal with
Aidan Murphy (Placentia, CA) getting the assist at the 5:53 mark of the opening quarter.
In the second quarter the Bulldogs started to pull away slightly, leading 3-1, with 3:10 remaining in the half.
Ron Givishi (Kiryat Tivon, Israel) was set up by
Dean Moody (Camarillo, CA) at the 4:29 mark and then Higginson converted on a penalty. CMS, though, got the final goal as Redlands led 3-2 after 16 minutes.
After only allowing two goals in the first half, the Bulldogs trailed for the first time as the Stags scored twice in the first minute and a half of the third. At the 3:29 mark Moody was able to equalize at four. Two late CMS goals to end the quarter made it a two-goal deficit heading into the final period.
The Bulldogs and Stags went back-and-forth in the fourth as Fedotov scored off a Higginson assist to get within one, then two minutes later CMS made it 7-5 with 4:31 to play in regulation.
Redlands, however, ended the last 4:11 of the quarter on a 3-1 run to tie it at eight, which included a pair of goals from Sellwood and the equalizing goal from
Andrew Sorensen (Long Beach, CA) as the Bulldogs took advantage of a powerplay opportunity with :55 seconds left.
It took until there were only nine seconds remaining in the first three-minute overtime before there was a goal as the Stags again reclaimed the lead.
Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) answered :40 seconds into the second overtime with his first score of the game, a spinning back-handed shot that beat the keeper.
CMS was unfazed as they retook the lead on their next possession with a penalty. The Bulldogs would then go on offense where they drew an exclusion and and with :12 seconds into their man-up advantage Higginson would score the 10
th goal of the game, which sent us into the seventh period and the beginning of sudden death.
After Fedotov won the sprint, the Bulldogs proceeded to turn the ball over, then the Stags were called for a 2-meter violation, and the final string of three consecutive turnovers was an offensive foul on Redlands.
CMS would get the first shot to win the game in the final two minutes of the period, but Clinton got a hand to the Stag opportunity. Redlands would then draw another exclusion, which would turn into the game-winning goal for Sellwood :10 seconds later as UR won 11-10 bringing the Bulldog faithful to their feet.
With the win the Bulldogs and Stags finish at 11-1 inside Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play and become the 2023 SCIAC Regular Season Co-Champions. Each team's loss came by one goal on the road against each other.
Roberto Barrera (Guanajuato, Mexico) had a terrific game between the posts finishing with 14 saves and three steals.
Redlands enters the upcoming SCIAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed as they fell on a tiebreaker to the Stags. They will now host No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer in the SCIAC Tournament Semifinal at the TAC on Friday, November 17 beginning at 7:00 p.m.
