PASADENA, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team (19-8, 9-1 SCIAC) beat the California Institute of Technology 13-4 in their final road Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game of the regular season Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs saw the return of junior goalkeeper Roberto Barrera (Guanajuato, Mexico) who competed in the Pan American Games for the Mexican National Team between the posts and opened with 12 minutes and 20 seconds of scoreless defense while putting seven in the back of the net. Opening things up for the Bulldogs was Andrew Higginson (San Diego, CA) in the first :37 seconds as Dean Moody (Camarillo, CA) collected the assist.

Less than a minute later Ron Gvishi (Kiryat Tivon, Israel) scored with another assist going to Moody. Nicolas Fedotov (Miami Beach, FL) then helped to make it 3-0 in the first two minutes as Moody was on the receiving end of the assist. Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) made it four goals in two minutes and 15 seconds as Moody had goal contributions on the first four scores.

Redlands' offense hit a lull in their play as it was not until there were only :34 seconds remaining in the first quarter that they beat the Beaver defense for a goal as Fedotov and Moody swapped roles on the score. Moody would end the quarter with the sixth goal contribution as he finished the first eight minutes with two goals and four assists.

With a big lead in the second quarter, Ryan Hall used more reserves as Adam Lambert (St. Louis, MO) was set up for his first goal by Curren McCarthy (San Clemente, CA) at the 4:43 mark.

The Beaver's would score for the first time with 3:40 left in the half, but the Bulldogs ended the second eight minute period with two unanswered from Callum Norman (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Andrew Sorensen (Long Beach, CA). Tanner Whitson (St. Louis, MO) and Brady Bumgardner (Laguna Beach, CA) each had assists on the goals as Redlands led 9-1 at the break.  

Caltech opened the second half with a converted penalty, which was their lone goal of the quarter as Redlands put three on the board. Jack Ryan (Ventura, CA) scored along with Jack Everett (Westlake Village, CA) and Aidan Murphy (Placentia, CA). Everett, Austin Galanski (Bakersfield, CA), and Whitson all had assists on the even strength goals.

The final eight minutes of the game were the only quarter in which the Beavers scored multiple goals as they put the first two of the frame in the back of the net.  However, Emerson Kropp (Denver, CO) converted on a five-meter penalty with 1:21 left in the game to complete the 13-4 win.

The offense finished 13 of their 38 shots (.433) but did not score on one of their four powerplays. Their defense made up for that though by holding the Beavers to a .125 powerplay percentage (1-8) and a .211 shooting percentage.

Moody finished with six points on two goals and four assists, while Everett, Fedotov, and Whitson's two points were the other Bulldogs with multiple goal contributions. Barrera ended with eight saves in his first action in 18 days.

Redlands finishes off the regular season with a matchup against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at the Thompson Aquatic Center (TAC) at 11:00 a.m. this Saturday, November 11 as the Bulldogs will honor their seniors prior to the game.  With a win the Bulldogs will share the 2023 SCIAC Regular Season Championship Title with the Stags and have a shot to be the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming SCIAC Tournament.