REDLANDS, Calif. – In a must win game to stay atop the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings, the University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team (12-11, 8-1 SCIAC) held on to beat Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) 13-10 to put themselves in a position to finish inside the top two and host in the upcoming SCIAC Tournament.
Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) and Andrew Sorensen (Long Beach, CA) scored the game's first two goals as Dean Moody (Camarillo, CA) and Ron Gvishi added assists with 4:00 left in the first quarter.
CMS and Redlands would then trade goals down to the 5:54 mark of the second when Callum Norman (Johannesburg, South Africa) scored to spark a 5-0 run heading into the break. Prior to the Norman goal, the Stags had scored in the first minute of the second quarter to pull within one, 4-3, but it would be the Bulldogs on top at the half, 9-3.
The Stags, who beat the Bulldogs by one a week ago in overtime, did not go away quietly, scoring four of the first five goals in the third as it was a three goal margin, 10-7, with 2:56 still to play.
Following a dominant 5-1 second for Redlands and a 4-1 third for CMS, the Bulldogs' offense woke back up and started the final eight minutes with goals from Moody and Norman to extend the lead to five, 12-7. Nicolas Fedotov (Miami Beach, FL) assisted Norman.
In the final minute of the game the Stags would score a pair of consolation goals, but the Bulldogs pulled out a much needed win to avoid the series sweep to the Stags.
Norman had his best game of the season with four goals, an assist, and a steal.
Gvishi did a little of everything with two goals, three assists, two drawn exclusions, and two steals.
Other notable defensive performances came from Fedotov with three drawn exclusions and a steal. Moody had one drawn exclusion and three steals. Clinton took possession away three times and drew a game-high four exclusions, while adding two goals on the other end of the pool. Then in goal Roberto Barrera (Guanajuato, Mexico) made six saves and added two steals.
Redlands remains at home for senior night next Wednesday, November 6 at 7:00 p.m. when they take on California Institute of Technology. Senior festivities will begin at 6:30 p.m.
