REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's water polo team qualified as the No. 3 seed for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament where they play No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) in the semifinals on the road on Thursday, November 20 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available online using this link, or will be $10 onsite. SCIAC students/faculty/staff with institutional ID and children under 12 are free. If purchasing tickets online, do so ahead of time to avoid delays.
The Bulldogs have now qualified for all but two SCIAC Tournaments featuring the current four/five-team format that was first introduced in 2017. Prior to that, all SCIAC teams made the championships and the regular season standings determined seeding.
In SCIAC play this season the Bulldogs went 8-4. They averaged 12.8 goals per game (GPP) and conceded 11.3 GPP. Their best offensive quarters were the first and third with 42 goals each, while their best defensive period was the first with 26 goals allowed. On powerplays they scored on 28.7 percent of their 94 opportunities, while conceding 24 percent of time on the 96 powerplays for their opponents.
CMS finished 11-1 in SCIAC. They averaged 16.5 GPP, while conceding 8.8 times per game. They were consistent across all four quarters, never scoring fewer than 46. Their highest scoring quarter is the first with 53. Their best defensive quarter is the fourth with 23 goals allowed. The Stags were dominant in powerplay situations, scoring 50.5 percent of the time (99 attempts) and held opponents to a 21.6 percent success rate (74).
Leading the way for Redlands' offense is Oliver Finley (Cape Town, South Africa) with 27 goals. Tim Jensen (Elmhurst, Ill.) set up the most goals with 13 assists and was third in scoring with 17 goals. Ossie Joplin (Kentfield, CA) had 21 goals as well.
Defensively Troy Barker (Roseville, CA) had a team-high 13 steals along with his 85 saves. Finley, Jensen, and Lennon Franklin also had double-digit take-a-ways.
For the Stags they had four players with 30 plus points: Nick Kennedy had 41 goals and 34 assists, Thomas Walker had 21 goals and 16 assists, Gavin Netherton had 19 goals and 14 assists, and Donovan Davidson had 20 goals and 11 assists.
In goal Jake Taylor made 102 saves for a .518 save percentage and recorded six steals. Kennedy had a team-high 14 steals and Davidson had 10 steals.
The winner of this game plays in the SCIAC Tournament Championship Game on Saturday against the winner of the other Semifinal between No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer and the winner of the first round game between No. 4 Occidental College and No. 5 Whittier College.
