REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Water Polo team (2-4) beat Ottawa University (Arizona) 23-13 to open the 2024 Inland Empire Classic at the Thompson Aquatic Center (TAC) Saturday morning and then they took down No. 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 18-12 to wrap up day one.
Game 1 (Ottawa University; W, 23-13)
The first two home goals came from Max Wagener (Piedmont, CA) with an assist going to Spencer Clinton (Cypress, CA) on the second goal.
Following the Spirit's first tally, Harrison DeCourcy (Alameda, CA) was fed inside by Nicolas Fedotov (Miami Beach, FL) for a 3-1 lead at the 2:58 mark of the first.
DeCourcy would add two more goals and Wagener would have a hat trick as the Bulldogs held a 6-3 lead after one. Andrew Sorensen (Long Beach, CA) also picked up two assists.
Brody Nielsen and Dean Moody (Camarillo, CA) converted inside of two minutes in the second quarter to make it a five-goal U of R lead, 8-3.
Following Ottawa's fourth goal, Redlands went on a 5-1 run, with goals coming from Moody, Clinton, Sorensen, and Ron Gvishi.
The Spirit, though, would end the half with momentum after scoring twice in the final minute as the lead was six, 13-7, at the break.
In the first six minutes of the third the Bulldogs dominated, scoring six times, and extending their lead to 11, 19-8. Clinton scored twice, while Tanner Whitson (St. Louis, MO) and Callum Norman (Johannesburg, South Africa) each found the back of the net for the first time.
With the game in hand, the Maroon and Grey got their final three goals from Aidan Murphy (Placentia, CA), Cameron Jones (Pleasanton, CA), and Michael Villagran (Arlington, VA).
Roberto Barrera (Guanajuato, Mexico) finished with eight saves in goal. Moody, Wagener, and DeCourcy all had hat tricks.
Game 2 (MIT; W, 18-12)
It was a fantastic start for the Bulldogs against the Engineers as they held a 7-1 lead thanks to goals from Clinton, three from Wagener, DeCourcy, Moody, and Adam Lambert (St. Louis, MO).
The Engineers would claw a couple of unanswered goals back in the middle of the second before Fedotov fed Gvishi twice in a span of :30 seconds as the lead was restored to six, 9-3.
A Nielsen goal in the final minute of the half helped Redlands go into the breakup up six, 10-4.
The remainder of the game Redlands held a six goal or greater lead as they cruised to an 18-12 win.
Wagener finished with four goals and an assist and Gvishi and Nielsen both had hat tricks. Fedotov continued to be the offense's engine as he had five assists and added three drawn exclusions and two steals.
Barrera made seven saves on 23 shot attempts. He also had a steal and an assist.
The Bulldogs begin the second and final day of the Inland Empire Classic Sunday morning, September 15 at 8:00 a.m. against T-No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. They wrap the day up with Fresno Pacific University at 3:30 p.m.
