La Verne, CA – The University of La Verne water polo team played its first home match of the season, as La Verne was one of the host sites of the 2022 Inland Empire Classic. The Leopards welcomed the #15 ranked Loyola Marymount University Lions.
La Verne would score their first goal of the game as Gage Unsoeld would find the net to put the Leopards on the board. Alam Chang and James Cano would add goals for the Leopards as the first period of play would close with La Verne trailing LMU by a score of 7-3. La Verne would score two goals in the second period of play to close the LMU lead to a score of 14-5 at halftime.
James Cano would spearhead a rally for the Leopards as the second half of play unfolded, scoring two goals while Tristan Tippet would add one goal for La Verne as they fought to gain control of the contest. Through a valiant effort in the second half, the Leopards would fall to the Lions by a final score of 27-8.
The Leopards second contest of the day would pit them against Westcliff University. La Verne started the match with tremendous energy, as they controlled the action during the first quarter. The Leopards ended the first quarter of play with a 6-5 lead over Westcliff. Alam Chang scored three goals during the first period of play for the Leopards. The second quarter of play proved to be a defensive battle as both teams did not score with the frequency that they did in the first period of play. Gage Unsoeld scored the Leopards lone goal of the second quarter, as they entered halftime trailing Westcliff by a score of 8-7. Three different Leopards would score goals in the third quarter of play, cutting the deficit to 14-9 entering the fourth quarter of play. La Verne would score two goals in the final two minutes of action but would not be able to overcome Westcliff, falling to the Warriors by a final score of 20-12.
Alam Chang and Peter Trinh both led the Leopards with three goals apiece. Chang also added two assists in the game and Joe Lamson had five saves defending the net.
The Leopards will take on Long Beach State in their first game of the IE Classic tomorrow and Ottawa in their second contest of the day.
