REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team used a three-goal lead at the end of the first quarter to help lift them past No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS), 8-7, in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Semifinal Thursday evening at the Thompson Aquatic Center (TAC).
That early 3-0 lead came thanks to a pair of goals in the first three minutes from Ron Gvishi (Kiryat Tivon, Israel) and Adam Lambert (St. Louis, MO) with the second for Gvishi coming with 2:10 to play.
CMS would partially flip the script in the second period as they held Redlands scoreless. But another strong defensive quarter for the Maroon and Grey had them up 3-1 at the half.
After four combined goals in the first 16 minutes, the two sides would score nine total goals in the third. Four of the first five came from the Bulldogs as they looked to have the game in hand leading 7-2 with 2:51 to play. Nicolas Fedotov (Miami Beach, FL), Dean Moody (Camarillo, CA), Gvishi and Max Wagener (Piedmont, CA) had the tallies.
The Stags, though, did not go away, scoring three of the final four goals to draw within three, 8-5, after 24 minutes.
In the fourth the Bulldogs were held scoreless again, but their defense allowed only two goals through the first six plus minutes as they held onto their lead, 8-7, with 1:54 left.
Following the Stag goal that made it a one-goal contest, Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) drew an exclusion that allowed the Bulldogs to drain some more clock, but they were unable to add an insurance connection.
The U of R defense would continue their strong effort as they forced a shot clock violation on the other end. They then used the entire 30-second shot clock and forced CMS to use a timeout to draw up a play with :10 seconds remaining.
The Stags would bring an extra player up, essentially playing 7-on-6 looking for the equalizer. They held the ball up top before finding a player on the endline looking for a nearpost goal. But Roberto Barrera (Guanajuato, Mexico) was able to move quickly to his right making the game-winning stop to send the Bulldogs to the SCIAC Championship Game.
Gvishi finished with a game-high three goals and added two steals. Moody had a goal and three steals, Owen Nishimura (Carlsbad, CA) had a big steal in the second half, and Clinton drew three exclusions and took possession away four times. In goal Barrera made nine saves for a .563 save percentage.
Redlands will now prepare to host No. 3 Chapman University for the SCIAC Tournament Championship Title at the TAC this Saturday, November 23 at 11:00 a.m. The Panthers upset No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer on the road in the other semifinal. Both teams have already clinched a spot in the USA Water Polo Division III National Championships, but the winner of this game will be the host.
