LA VERNE, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's water polo team (7-10, 3-1 SCIAC) pushed their winning streak to three games with a 14-9 road win at the University of La Verne (ULV) Saturday morning.
Jake Simpson (El Cajon, CA) got things going only :12 seconds into the game when he scored on a powerplay. Following a pair of Leopard goals, Lennon Franklin (Redlands, CA) and Joseph Madigan (Arlington, VA) converted penalties to make it 3-2 Bulldogs with 1:50 remaining in the opening quarter.
Despite conceding the final goal of the first, Redlands came out and shut out ULV 4-0 in the second with goals coming from Simpson, off a Nick Davidson (Honolulu, HI) assist, Camilo Solis (Camarillo, CA), Oliver Finley (Cape Town, South Africa), and Adam Lambert (St. Louis, MO) off a Finley assist, which made it 7-3 Bulldogs at the half.
Both sides traded goals in the third with the Bulldogs scoring the first, middle, and last goal of the five-goal quarter. Davidson got his second assist on Zach Dortch's (Alameda, CA) goal to begin the third and Franklin and Tanner Stagner (Laguna Niguel, CA) beat the keeper with Redlands' two other goals to help them take a five-goal lead, 10-5, into the final eight minutes.
The Leopards scored the opening goal of the fourth, but the Bulldogs tallied the next two thanks to Dortch and Madigan, and their defense held ULV scoreless for almost three minutes, which helped seal the road win.
The final two goals for the Maroon and Grey came within :43 seconds of each other, and both were from Michael Villagran (Glendora, CA) with Blake Minkler (Yucaipa, CA) assisting on the second goal.
Solis had a game-high four points thanks to three assists and a goal, Simpson scored twice with two drawn exclusions, and Christian Newberry (Huntington Beach, CA) and Davidson also had two drawn. Septime De Bonnafos (Marseille, France) remained the starter in goal, playing all 32 minutes with 12 saves and a steal.
Redlands heads to Whittier College this Wednesday, October 14 for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game at 7:00 p.m.
