Colorado Springs, CO - The University of La Verne men's water polo team traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado to compete in the Rare Air Challenge. The Rare Air Challenge consisted of water polo teams from various levels of the NCAA and the NAIA.

The Leopards competed against teams from both divisions in the two-day tournament.

La Verne opened the tournament with two games on the opening day of play. In the first game of the day, LA Verne would take on Westcliff University. The Leopards battled intensely against Westcliff through four quarters of action but would lose by a final score of 18-11. James Cano led the Leopards with four goals scored in the contest.

In the second game of the day, the Leopards took on Division I Iona University from New Rochelle, New York. First-quarter action would see both teams go back and forth, with the Leopards ending the quarter trailing by a score of 6-4. La Verne would hit a scoring lull in the second quarter and would trail at halftime by a score of 13-6. Scoring six goals in second-half action, the Leopards would close the deficit but time would expire with the Leopards being defeated by Iona 25-12. Peter Trinh scored five goals and Joe Lamson had ten saves in the game.

Sunday's action pitted the Leopards against two more Division I opponents as they took on the host team Air Force and Saint Francis from Brooklyn New York.
A scoreless opening quarter against Air Force created an uphill battle for LA Verne as they would fight to gain control of the contest. The Leopards would score ten goals in the second half but the early deficit would be too much to overcome, resulting in a loss by the final score of 20-13.

The Leopards battled Saint Francis in their final game of the tournament. La Verne would complete 61% of their shots in the contest but would fall to the Terriers 22-13. Alam Chang scored six goals in the loss.

La Verne will return back to action on September 28th when they host Chapman in SCIAC play. The game starts at 4:00 pm.