Men's Water Polo falls to Whittier in overtime, 16-15

Men's Water Polo falls to Whittier in overtime, 16-15

By Kay Hurd
La Verne Athletics Communication

LA VERNE, Calif — The University of La Verne men's water polo team dropped a 16-15 double overtime thriller to Whittier on Saturday afternoon at the La Verne Aquatics Center at Las Flores Park.

The Leopards fall to 4-16 overall and 2-3 in conference play while the Poets improve to 14-10 and 3-1.

The young Leopards team were able to keep the perennial powerhouse Poets within arms reach throughout the game. La Verne briefly held the lead early in the third quarter but Whittier was able to stave off any comeback attempts.

Neither team could break the stalemate in the first overtime. Whittier turned to Massimiliano Mirarchi, their All-American attacker, in the second overtime to strike and he skipped one past Ian Hernandez as the shot clock wound down with 1:15 left in the period to win the game for the Poets.

Mirarchi struck first in the fourth quarter to break a 13-13 tie, but Joey Sabers notched his only goal of the game to keep it even at 14-14 with 2:47 left to go in regulation. But the Poets repsponded right away on their next possession as Aidan Tol skipped a shot past goalie Ian HernandezJoshua Vega answered on the other end to tie it back up at 15-15 and to send the game into overtime.

Hernandez made 17 saves for the Leopards. Murat Ersoz picked up 13 saves for the Poets.

The Leopards return to action on Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. when they travel to Caltech

Whittier 16, La Verne 15
Oct. 29, 2016 • La Verne, Calif
WC      6-4-3-2-0-1 = 16
LV       5-5-3-2-0-0 = 15

SCORING:
WC – Mirarchi 6, Marko Miocic 2, Tol 2, Tim Aaukus 2, Wedge Molthen 2, Mihalio Vuja, Tyler Fields
LV – Rey Castillo 5, Guillermo Ocasio 3, Jared Hopley 2, Vega 2, Rex Sample 2, Sabers