Men's Water Polo lets early lead slip at Cal Lutheran

Men's Water Polo lets early lead slip at Cal Lutheran

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — La Verne men's water polo team let an early lead slip in a 14-13 loss to Cal Lutheran at Samuelson Aquatics Center on Saturday morning.

In the opening quarter, La Verne jumped out to a quick 6-3 lead behind goals from Chad Castro (2), Makai DeNeve-Arnam (2), Bryan Jimenez and Troy Williams and earned five ejections from the Kingsmen.

The second quarter saw three goals from the Leopards, but the Kingsmen fueled their comeback by drawing five ejections from La Verne to tie it up 9-9 going into the half.

Two quick goals from Cal Lutheran in the third quarter gave them a 11-9 lead, but DeNeve-Arnam kept the Leopards within one after finding the back of the net for his third goal of the game.

Jimenez and Jared Hopley fired off back-to-back goals early in the fourth to give back the lead to the Leopards. La Verne held onto a 12-11 lead until two Kingsmen goals put the Leopards back on the hunt. Hopley fired one in with a little over a minute remaining  to tie it up at 13-13, but with 30 seconds left, Chris Gardhouse scored his fifth goal of the day to put the Kingsmen up. An attempt to set up a last second shot by the Leopards was thwarted by the Kingsmen defense and they would hold out to take the match 14-13.

Ian Hernandez recorded 10 saves on the day. Nick Loomis stopped six attempts for the Kingsmen.

Gardhouse lead all scorers with five.

La Verne will continue SCIAC action when they host Chapman at Las Flores Park on October 31st.

Cal Lutheran 14, La Verne 13

Oct. 24, 2015 • Thousand Oaks, Calif.

LV  6 – 3 – 1 – 3 = 13

CLU  4 – 5 – 2 – 3 = 14  

SCORING:

LV – Makai DeNeve-Arnam 3, Jared Hopley 3, Chad Castro 2, Bryan Jimenez 2, Troy Williams, Elias Acosta

CLU – Chris Gardhouse 5, AJ Franklin 3, Zack Card 3, Mats Albins, George French, Camron Hauer