LA VERNE, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team (14-12, 10-2 SCIAC) completed their regular season with a dominant 27-13 road win at the University of La Verne (ULV) Wednesday afternoon as they led from start to finish.
The Bulldogs were clearly focused to begin this game after losing to Pomona-Pitzer this past Saturday, as they scored four times in the first two minutes thanks to goals from Dean Moody (Camarillo, CA), Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA), Max Wagener (Piedmont, CA), and Ron Gvishi (Kiryat Tivon, Israel).
Less than two minutes after their fast start offensively, the Leopards responded with three unanswered goals.
Andrew Sorensen (Long Beach, CA) and Harrison DeCourcy (Alameda, CA) would finish off the quarter with tallies as Redlands led 6-4 after eight minutes of water polo.
ULV would score in the first minute of the second period, but that would spark five in a row by the Bulldogs that included two Aidan Murphy (Placentia, CA) assisted goals and two goals from Sorensen.
Across the final 2:54 DeCourcy, Moody and Gvishi would beat the Leopard keeper to cap off a 10-goal second quarter. Tanner Whitson (St. Louis, MO) got his first assist of the game on Moody's first goal as it was 16-7 Redlands at the half.
If there was a path back for the Leopards, the Bulldogs ended it with the first three goals in the third quarter, including the first from Adam Lambert (St. Louis, MO) and Nicolas Fedotov (Miami Beach, FL), and they extended their scoreless streak against the Leos to seven minutes extending the lead to 12, 19-7.
In the final quarter each side scored five times with Lambert, Tanner Stagner (Laguna Niguel, CA), Liam Gore (Glendora, CA), Jack Ryan (Ventura, CA), Joseph Madigan (Arlington, VA), and Whitson all tallying goals. Michael Villagran (Glendora, CA) got himself on the scoresheet with an assist on Gore's goal.
The offense was very efficient, scoring on 61.4 percent of their shot attempts and 75 percent of their eight powerplay opportunities.
Moody and Sorensen each had four goals, while Gvishi, DeCourcy, and Clinton each had hat tricks. Moody also added three assists for a season-high seven points. Roberto Barrera (Guanajuato, Mexico) got the win and made five saves including a penalty stop in the third.
The Bulldogs will now prepare for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Semifinal next Thursday, November 21 at the Thompson Aquatic Center. Opponent and additional information will be added to the schedule when available.
