LOS ANGELES – In the 15th place game at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Invitational co-hosted by the University of California, Los Angles (UCLA) and the University of Southen California (USC) the University of Redlands men's water polo team (1-11) fell 21-12 to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Sunday morning in their first meeting since the 2024 SCIAC Tournament Semi-Final, which the Bulldogs won last November.
It was a rough start for the Maroon and Grey with the Stags scoring eight unanswered goals in the first quarter. The first tally came from Oliver Finley (Cape Town, South Africa) who scored at the 6:48 mark of the second with Lennon Franklin (Redlands, CA) picking up the assist.
Following a Stag goal Matthew Wheeler (Visalia, CA) found the back of the net off a Camilo Solis (Camarillo, CA) assist, and Solis would pick one up himself with 4:59 on the clock moving the deficit to six, 9-3.
Jake Simpson (El Cajon, CA) and Harrison DeCourcy (Alameda, CA) had the final two Bulldogs goals of the first half, but Redlands still trailed by double figures, 15-5, after the first 16 minutes.
After conceding the first two of the third, Brody Nielsen (Capitola, CA) found DeCourcy, Troy Barker (Roseville, CA) assisted Stephen Ramirez (Pasadena, CA), Sebas Maccalla (Altadena, CA) picked up an assist on Tim Jensen's powerplay goal, and finally Brady Bailey (Ramona, CA) found DeCourcy for another powerplay goal that capped off their 4-0 run making it 17-9 with 1:33 remaining in the third.
Any comeback chance would come to an end as CMS responded with a 3-0 run. Simpson, Wheeler, and DeCourcy, though, all beat the Stag keeper in the final 3:12 of the game but it wouldn't be enough.
There were a combined 31 exclusions. The Bulldogs converted their shot percentage at a 42.9 percent clip, but the Stags were over 50 percent on more attempts.
DeCourcy had a big game with four goals and three drawn exclusions and Simpson had two goals, an assist, and three drawn exclusions. In goal Barker played 16 minutes, made five saves, and added a steal and an assist. Nathan Gattorna (Carlsbad, CA) made five saves in the other 16 minutes.
Redlands begins Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play this Wednesday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m. when they host Occidental College at the Thompson Aquatic Center (TAC).
