2015 SCIAC Men's Water Polo Championship

Dates: Nov. 20-22, 2015

Times: See below

Location: La Verne, Calif. (Las Flores Park)

Live Stream: SCIAC Portal - $5 per day

Tickets: Adults - $5, spectators w/ current SCIAC ID - Free, children under 12 - Free 

Merchandise: A limited supply of SCIAC Men's Water Polo Championship t-shirts will be available for sale during the event.

Participant Credentials: Credentials are required for all tournament participants, officials and staff and will be provided to teams upon arrival at the pool on Friday. Credentials must be displayed at all times except during competition.

Media Credentials: Please submit all media credential requests to Kay Hurd (kirsten.hurd@laverne.edu) by Thursday, Nov. 19. Passes will be available at the entrance.

Regular Season Standings

Schedule

Friday, November 20
Game 1	Box Score	#8 Occidental	8	#9 Caltech	5
Game 2	Box Score	#2 Whittier	12	#7 La Verne	11
Game 3	Box Score	#3 Redlands	6	#6 Pomona-Pitzer	3
Game 4	Box Score	#4 Chapman	10	#5 Cal Lutheran	8
Game 5	Box Score	#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	19	#8 Occidental	10

Game 1 Occidental 8, Caltech 5 Box Score

Occidental started off the first quarter with a 3-0 run and although Caltech pulled within one at the end of the first half, it wasn't enough as Occidental pushed to a three-goal cushion and kept the Beavers behind to close out the game.

Matt Weiser scored three for the Tigers, Christopher Bradley and James Blackwood had two each for the Beavers.

Game 2 Whittier 12, La Verne 11 Box Score

Whittier fired off its first goal with only 17 seconds off the clock. The first quarter was back and forth with each Poet goal being answered by the Leopards.

The second quarter started with a 2-0 Leopard push but Massimiliano Mirarchi scored two back-to-back unanswered goals to tie it up at 5-5.

After the half, a Poet ejection led to a bullet to the back of the net by Chad Castro to give the Leopards a 7-6 lead, but Bryan Jimenez earned his third ejection early on in the third and was forced to sit the rest of the game. Andrew Phillips earned a penalty shot which Troy Williams slammed into the back of the net. Immediately after, Jared Hopley earned another penalty shot which Williams again rocketed into the goal to give La Verne the 10-8 lead. Mirarchi fueled the Poet offense earning a 2-1 breakaway which Justin Pratt scored and a bullet through traffic to tie it up at 10-10.

Rayn Batchelor breaks a four minute silence with a sleeper after a Poet ejection giving the Leopards a 11-10 lead but Eoghan Foley blasts one past Ian Hernandez to tie it up at 11-11 with just over two minutes remaining. With 1:33 remaining, Mirarchi scored what would be the game-winner for the Poets.

Mirarchi lead the Poets with six, Troy Williams led La Verne with three. 

Game 3 Redlands 6, Pomona-Pitzer 3 Box Score

The first goal of the game didn't come until Pomona-Pitzer James Baker found the top right corner to put the Sagehens on the board. Not 15 seconds later, Bulldog Mark Shippen sailed one into the back of the net to tie it up at 1-1 at the half.

Second half showed another slow start but John Koning and Zac Polmanteer scored back-to-back to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead which they carried into the 4th.

Sagehens earned a penalty shot which Timmy Hardman converted into a goal. Mark Zikov then skipped one and Zac Polmanteer rocketed another past Daniel Diemer to give the Bulldogs a three-point cushion. James Baker's shot cuts the lead to two with just over two minutes remaining but it wasn't enough as Redlands spread the pool and time expired.

Polmanteer and Shippen had two apiece for the Bulldogs, Baker scored two for the Sagehens.

Game 4 Cal Lu 10, Chapman 8 Box Score

Chapman's Bennett Royce opened up scoring on a breakaway after an ejection. Both team converted back-to-back penalty shots (CLU's Zack Card and CU's Willis Allen) to keep the Chapman lead at 2-1. Sam Baker beats the buzzer to improve Chapman's lead to 4-1 at the end of the first frame.

Corey Plaster and Jeff O'Brien score to open up Chapman's lead to four. Then a rocket from Hashem Mossaad-Ahmen blasts past Nick Loomis to give the Panthers a 7-2 lead. Mats Albins cuts the Panther lead back to four after a shot skips just past the shoulder of Stephen Neil, but a Mossaad-Ahmen goal finishes the half with a five-point Chapman lead. 

Zack Card converts a penalty shot and George French slams one into the back of the net to bring Cal Lu within four. Wilson Parnell earned the Panthers a penalty shot but Nick Loomis came up with a huge block to hold the Chapman lead at four.

Camron Hauer muscled his way in the set position to earn another Kingsmen goal. Ben Russell came right after him on a breakaway to cut the Chapman lead down to 9-7. Neil made three key blocks for Chapman to hold off the Cal Lu charge. 

Allen and Mossaad-Ahmen scored two each for the Panthers, while Matt Paxton and JT Hoy added two apiece for the Kingsmen. 

Game 5 CMS 19, Occidental 10 Box Score

 Occidental opened up scoring with a bullet from the right side but CMS went on a 9-1 run to close out the half 9-2.

The Stags stayed aggressive by scoring four but the Tigers answered with two quick goals by Matt Munet and Matt Weiser to close out third quarter, 13-4.

A sidearm shot skipped past Oxy's Adam Florsheim to give CMS a double-digit lead but Paul Bergevin answered twice in a row to put the Tigers within eight at 14-6. William Kim scored his second goal of the game to cut the lead to nine followed by a converted penalty shot by Bergevin, but CMS's cushion proved too large for the Tigers to overcome. 

Alex Waggoner finished with four goals for the Stags, Bergevin had four to lead the Tigers.

Saturday, November 21
Game 6	Box Score	#7 La Verne	14	#9 Caltech	10
Game 7	Box Score	#2 Whittier	7	#3 Redlands	5
Game 8	Box Score	#1 CMS	11	#4 Chapman	6
Game 9	Box Score	#5 Cal Lu	15	#8 Occidental	8
Game 10	Box Score	#6 Pomona-Pitzer	10	#7 La Verne	9

Game 6 La Verne 14, Caltech 10 Box Score

The Leopards and the Beavers took to a slow start but once they woke up, both teams were firing on all cylinders. Billy Bloomquist and James Blackwood led the attack for Caltech, scoring two each, while Joshua Vega netted three for the Leopards. The first half boasted a total of 14 goals with the halftime score of 7-7.

Jared Hopley blasted a skip shot past Sharuya Gilani to open up scoring in the second half. Chad Castro scored after a pass into set was nearly tipped away to give La Verne a two point cushion. Gilani broke the Leopards momentum but the Beavers couldn't translate two exclusions in points on the board. 

La Verne was able to draw a penalty shot but Gilani came in clutch against the big arm of Bryan Jimenez. Caltech rode the momentum after Christopher Bradley netted a big goal against Ian Hernandez then a rocket to the back of the cage after a Leopard exclusion. Andrew Phillips regained the two-point cushion when he got the putback after a shot by Castro. Troy Williams opened up a three-point lead and La Verne never looked back.

Joshua Vega and Jared Hopely scored three each for the Leopards, Christopher Bradley had five for the Beavers.

Game 7 Whittier 7, Redlands 5 Box Score

Marino Fatovic opened up scoring for Whittier with bullet to the top corner, but Redlands' Zac Polmanteer followed in the ensuing play with a buzzer-beating equalizer to bring it to 1-1. Nelson Glendinning gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead from the left side with a sidearm shot. A drawn penalty shot for Whittier gave Massimiliano Mirarchi his first goal of the match. A backhand shot by Bulldog Wedge Molthen was saved by Chris Sekula followed by a huge save after the attempted putback. Sekula came in clutch yet again when he stuff another penalty shot by Mirarchi keeping the score at 4-2 in favor of the Bulldogs. 

First goal of the second quarter came from Austin Ringheim at 3:20. The second came at 43 seconds remaining when John Koning fired one from the top to close out the half 5-3 with Redlands on top.

Justin Pratt tips in a goal after an exclusion on the Bulldogs. Eoghan Foley followed on the next play to equalize the game at 5-5 with a bomb to the back of the net. Another exclusion on the Bulldogs lead to a breakaway for the Poets which Mirarchi slams past Sekula to close out the quarter in favor of Whittier 6-5.

The lone goal of the quarter came from Fatovich as both teams pressured the ball. Whittier was able to spread out the pool as as time expired on the Redlands push.

Whittier was led by Mirarchi with two, Redlands was led by Koning who has netted two.

Game 8 CMS 11, Chapman 6 Box Score

Back-to-back goals from Alex Waggoner started the half in favor of CMS, but Jeff O'Brien cut the lead to one after a rocket from the top. Willis Allen was able to throw one in before the end of the first quarter to tie it up at 2-2. Peter Tilton, Daniel Cogan, and Waggoner each scored to boast a three-point cushion for the Stags going into halftime.

Waggoner picked up his fourth and fifth goals for the match to increase the Stag lead to five.

Allen finds the top right corner of the cage to pick up his second goal for the Panthers. Tanner Cullen and Eric Baker translate a give and go to earn the break away point for CMS, but Garrett Aanestad fires from the top to cut the lead back to four. Peter Sidener flushes one from the left followed by a Chapman transition goal scored by Aanestad closes out the quarter 9-5.

In a game that boasted 29 ejections, seven of those came in the fourth quarter with both teams staying extremely aggressive. 

CMS was led by Alex Waggoner with five, Allen netted two for Chapman.

Game 9 Cal Lu 15, Occidental 8 Box Score

 Cal Lu took over early with a trifecta of goals from Jack Acampora, Zack Card, and Chris Gardhouse. Matt Weiser answered once with a bullet from set, but it was offset when Cameron Knudsen slipped one past Josh Needleman. Shea Craig dropped one on Needleman to increase the spread to 5-1 at the end of the first quarter. 

William Kim finds the back of the net for the Tigers in the second quarter but Mats Albins follows it up to maintain the cushion for Cal Lu. Ben Russell slams it into the top right corner to push the lead to 8-2.

Gardhouse picks up his third goal to push the lead to seven, but Paul Bergevin sneaks one past Nick Loomis to 9-3. Weiser also dropped one in to hold the Kingsmen lead, but it wasn't enough. Kingsmen went on to win it 15-8.

Cal Lu saw 11 Kingsmen get on the board, led by Gardhouse with three, while Paul Bergevin for the second game in a row led the Tigers in scoring with three.

Game 9 Pomona-Pitzer 10, La Verne 9 Box Score

Phillip Clayman opened up the game for the Sagehens but Joshua Vega followed close behind to even out the score at 1-1. Clayman converted an exclusion on the Leopards to give the Sagehens a one-point lead. Jared Hopley slams one home to keep it even at 2-2. 

Neil Forsythe sends one to the back of the net from the left side, followed by James Baker earning his second goal of the game and increasing the Sagehen lead to 5-2. Ryan Batchelor scored on an exclusion against Pomona-Pitzer to cut cushion down to two. La Verne rode the momentum in halftime when Makai DeNeve-Arnam, Vega, and Hopley scored three in a row to take the lead 6-5 in favor of the Leopards.

Clayman picked up his third goal of the game when he tied it up at 6-6. Ian Hernandez stepped out of the goal to break up a Sagehen transition and it almost cost him as Nic Lanker's shot nearly drifted into the cage, Chad Castro sprinted to make the save. The Sagehens would not slow down and scored three in a row unanswered to take back the lead with some cushion at 8-6. A mistimed reentry cost the Sagehens a 5M penalty shot which Bryan Jimenez skipped past Daniel Diemer to cut the lead back to 8-7. 

Sagehens Baker and Timmy Hardman each connected to push the cushion back to two, but Castro and Jimenez goals were not enough to overcome the deficit and Pomona-Pitzer took the win 10-9.

Baker scored three for the Sagehens and Jimenez, Vega, and Hopley combined for six in favor of La Verne.

Sunday, November 22
Game 11 (7th place)	Box Score	#8 Occidental	5	#7 La Verne	6
Game 12 (5th place)	Box Score	#5 Cal Lu	8	#6 Pomona-Pitzer	13
Game 13 (3rd place)	Box Score	#3 Redlands	10	#4 Chapman	9
Game 14 (Championship)	Box Score	#2 Whittier	11	#1 CMS	12

Game 11 La Verne 6, Occidental 5 Box Score

The first half was all La Verne. The Leopards found the back of the net twice and blanked the Tigers in the first quarter. After Chad Castro found the back of the cage for the second time, William Kim was able to skip one past Ian Hernandez to put Occidental on the board at 4-1. After a double exclusion leaves both teams down a man, the Leopards earned another exclusion to gain the five-on-four advantage which Andrew Phillips tipped into the goal. The Leopards finished the half on top 5-1.

The second half saw Oxy on the attack. The Tiger capitalized on a slow start by the Leopards and cut the lead to 6-4 with goals from Matt Munet, Dominic Rodriguez, and Paul Bergevin. With less than a minute remaining, the Tigers continued their push and picked up a bullet from Bergevin to cut the lead to one, but La Verne spread the pool to run down time and take the win 6-5.

Castro picked up two goals in the win for the Leopards, Bergevin once again led the Tigers in scoring with two.

Game 12 Pomona-Pitzer 13, Cal Lu 8 Box Score

Adam Ward opened up scoring for the Sagehens with a slick maneuver around Nick Loomis. Chris Gardhouse fired back on the next possession to tie it up 1-1. The Kingsmen and the Sagehens would trade goals. A backhand by Nic Lanker gave the Sagehens a one-point cushion but a minor penalty gave the Kingsmen a 5M shot which Ben Russell slammed into the back of the cage to go 4-4 into the second quarter.

Goals by Mark Hallman and Phillip Clayman gave the Sagehens a two-point lead early on in the quarter. Zack Card uses a counterattack and a 6-on-5 advantage to cut the lead and tie it up at 6-6. A deflected shot taken by Ward coasted into the goal to finish the half 7-6 in favor of the Sagehens.

Timmy Hardman found the back of the net followed by Lanker who converted a counterattack to give the Sagehens a three-point lead. George French slammed one past Daniel Diemer to cut the lead back to 9-7. Zack Card uses an exclusion on the Sagehens to find the back of the net and close out the quarter 9-8.

Clayman used the post to sneak on past Loomis to open up the final frame. A shot by Ward deflected off the crossbar and landed in front of Lanker who flushed it from a foot in front of Loomis to give the Sagehens a 11-8 lead. Clayman lobbed his fifth goal of the day into the top left corner to push the Sagehen lead to 13-8. The Kingsmen couldn't find a rhythm on offense and the Sagehens spread the pool to run the time and take the win.

Clayman lead Pomona-Pitzer with five goals, Card finished with four for Cal Lu.

Game 13 Redlands 10, Chapman 9 Box Score

John Koning picked up two quick ones in the opening from to give Redlands a 2-0 lead. Jack Hillman earned one after an exclusion on the Bulldogs. Redlands closed out the quarter ahead, 2-1.

Jeff O'Brien capitalized on a defensive breakdown to tie it up at 2-2 for Chapman. Danny Hartwig fired into the top corner to put Redlands back on top, 3-2. Willis Allen picked up his first of the game after an exclusion on the Bulldogs. Billy Clifford scored on the ensuing possession to put Redlands ahead 4-3. Hillman fired from the right side to keep it even at 4-4.

Koning again would earned the first goal of the half, but it was quickly answered by Garrett Aanestad to keep it even at 5-5. Clifford slams one past Stephen Neil to put the Bulldogs up by one. Hashem Mossaad-Ahmen skips one through traffic to keep the game even at 6-6. Nelson Glendinning would put one past Neil and Redlands would take a 7-6 lead into the fourth.

Mark Zikov slips one in followed by Clifford to give the Bulldogs a three-point cushion. Corey Plaster slings one into the back of the cage for the Panthers to cut the lead to 9-7. Aanestad finds the back of the net for the second time put the Panthers within one. Matt Shippen threw one right over the head of Neil to put the lead back to two going into the final three minutes. A battle in the set lead to a penalty shot for Chapman which Willis Allen rocketed into the back of the net. Redlands went on the defensive and held the Chapman run to take the game, 10-9.

Koning and Clifford netted three apiece for the Bulldogs, Aanestad, Hillman, and Allen each scored two for the Panthers.

Game 14 CMS 12, Whittier 11 Box Score

Ellison Taylor picked up a dunk after a double exclusion and another exclusion gave CMS a five on four advantage. Austin Ringheim took a chance on a last second shot as time expired on the shot clock and it payed off. Game stayed tied at the end of the first quarter, 1-1.

Taylor slammed another one in to start the quarter for the Stags. As the shot clock expired on the Stags, the Poets took it to the other side of the pool where Wedge Molthen fired one past Rye Newman to tie it up 2-2. Whittier carried the momentum as Mihailo Vuja used a counterattack to take Newman one-on-one and give Whittier the lead 3-2. Daniel Cogan broke the surge as he caught Oliver Bineth out of position. Cogan would again catch Bineth off guard and send one to the back of the cage. Marino Fatovich dropped a hammer on a penalty shot which tied up the board, 4-4. Cogan found the back of the net for the third time on the Poet exclusion. Vuja would pick up his second with a rocket from the top to close out the half at 5-5.

Massimiliano Mirarchi sent a bullet to the back of the net to put Whittier up by one. Taylor picked up his third to tie the game back at 6-6. Mirarchi slams one in from the top but Eric Bakar capitalizes on the exclusion to tie the game at 7-7 going into the final frame.

Mirarchi dunked one on the lob from Fatovich to give the Poets the lead, 8-7. Justin Pratt fired through traffic to pick up a two-point cushion for Whittier. Alex Waggoner picked up his first goal on the cross-pool pass to cut the lead to 9-8. Taylor fired from the top to tie it up with just over a minute remaining. A big save by Newman found CMS on the offensive with a chance to take the lead. Waggoner skipped a bullet past Bineth to put the Stags on top with 23 seconds remaining. A penalty sent a Stag to the bench and Fatovich to the 5M line which he rocketed into the back of the net to send the game into overtime.

Tanner Cullen skipped one past Bineth to take over the lead in overtime. Mirarchi was about to pick up a penalty shot for Whittier which Fatovich sent to the back of the net and tie the game at 11-11. Peter Tilton fired a buzzer beater from half court to give CMS the lead heading into the second overtime.

Both teams pressed hard but neither could find the back of the net and CMS took the game 12-11.

Taylor finished with four for the Stags, Mirarchi and Fatovich had three apiece.

With the win CMS automatically qualified for the NCAA National Championship Tournament.