Men's Water Polo Outlasts NCAA DIII La Verne
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
La Verne (1-6) | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
|
Citrus (5-2) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
Glendora, CA – After jumping out to a 7-3 halftime lead, the Citrus College Men's Water Polo team had to hold on for dear life over the final 16 minutes of action, outlasting NCAA DIII University of La Verne 14-12.
The Owls came charging out of the gate on the evening, scoring the first four goals of the match, three of which came off the hands of sophomore Daniel Velazquez. La Verne would score twice more before the end of the first, but Velaqzquez and co poured it on in the second quarter with Velazquez scoring twice more and getting a third score from sophomore Kristopher Williams to take a 7-3 lead into the break.
Things began to unravel for Citrus in the third quarter, with the Leopards outscoring the Owls 6-3 to head into the fourth quarter down by just one 9-10. La Verne would tie the game up 1:31 into the fourth quarter, but 24 seconds later, freshman Jonathan Wong took a pass from freshman Ian Schubert to put Citrus back up by one. The Owls would score a few possessions later, getting another goal from Williams, this time with sophomore James Cano assisting to make it 12-10.
La Verne would break up the tiny run on their next trip down the pool, but Citrus would score two out of the three final goals, one from sophomore James Adams and the other by Cano to secure the two goal win. Wong and Velazquez would each finish with a team high five goals each. Velazquez would also add three assists. Sophomore goalie Drake Santos recorded 11 saves in the win.
With the win, Citrus improves to 5-2 on the year. The Owls will be back home over the weekend when they co-host the 43rd Annual Mt. San Antonio College Men's Water Polo Tournament.
