LA VERNE, Calif. — The University La Verne men's water polo team took to its home pool for the first time this season, co-hosting the 2014 Inland Empire Classic on Sept. 13-14, and defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer for the first time in recent memory.

Game 1: La Verne 13, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 10 (Sept. 13)

After trailing for much of the game, the Leopards ripped off six consecutive goals in the second half to earn its first win of the season against the 2013 SCIAC runner-up CMS.

The Stags got out to an early lead, but the Leopards stayed within striking distance and their move late in the third quarter. Josh Vega cut the Stags' lead to 9-7 to close the third quarter and the Leopards pounced in the fourth.

Andrew Phillips opened the fourth quarter scoring at the 7:24 mark and Jared Hopley evened the score at 9-9 less than a minute later. Bryan Jimenez and Nick Estevez extended the lead to 11-9 with a goal each.

Alex Aggoner stopped the bleeding for CMS and game the Stags a shot at a late run with a goal with about 1:20 remaining. But La Verne defense stood strong and Josh Vega sealed the win with his fifth score of the game with 35 seconds remaining.

La Verne outscored CMS, 8-3, in the second half.

Josh Vega tied for the game-high with five goals and Jimenez had four.

Christian Ortiz had 15 saves in net for La Verne.

Tanner Cullen led the way for the Stags with five.

Game 2: La Verne 10, Pomona-Pitzer 9 (Sept. 13)

La Verne goalie Christian Ortiz made a point-blank save as time expired and the Leopards held off a late Pomona-Pitzer surge to beat the Sagehens, 10-9.

Holding on to the one-goal lead in the waning seconds of the game, all the Leopards had to do was hold on to the ball and dump the ball into the corner. However, the Leopards had a difficult time passing the ball around in the face of Pomona-Pitzer pressure and were unable to dump the ball, allowing the Sagehens to go on a last-second counterattack. The Sagehens got a one-on-one opportunity against Ortiz, but the La Verne goalie stood tall and made the save of the season so far.

Despite the late Pomona-Pitzer rally, La Verne led wire to wire. The Leopards got out to quick 3-0 lead and led by as much as four goals in the fourth quarter.

Josh Vega led all scorers with four goals. Bryan Jimenez had three, Viken Huening had two and Jonathon Jarvis contributed one.

Game 3: UCLA 24, La Verne 1 (Sept. 14)

Dealing with heavy legs, the Leopards couldn't get anything going against Division I No. 2 UCLA.

The Bruins rattled off 23 unanswered goals to start the game.

Freshman Makai DeNeve-Arnam put the Leopards on the board with about 1:30 left in the game.

Christian Ortiz mad 10 saves.

Game 3: Whittier 16, La Verne 14 (Sept. 14)

The Leopards hung with the defending SCIAC Champions most of the game, but a crucial 4-0 run in the second half by the Poets was the difference in a 16-14 loss.

Whittier rattled off three consecutive goals to close the third quarter and netted the first goal in the fourth to put La Verne in a 15-9 hole. The Leopards regrouped and outscored the Poets 5-1 the rest of the way, but the time ran out.

La Verne matched the No. 1-ranked Whittier goal-for-goal most of the game. La Verne had more shots on goal, but Whittier goalie Ryan Brunansky was up to the task, making 15 saves.

Viken Huening tied for the game-high with four goals. Bryan Jimenez and Matthew Vega scored two apiece and six Leopards recorded one goal each.

Christian Ortiz made seven saves.

La Verne returns to action this weekend. On Friday, the Leopards travel to Riverside for a pair of games against Cal Baptist and Concordia. On Saturday, the Leopards will take on Whittier (10:15 a.m.) and Occidental (3:15 p.m.) at Whittier Mini Invitational.