CLAREMONT, Calif. - In an evenly matched Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opener for the Cal Lutheran men's water polo team, it was the host Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens who got a late surge, handing the Kingsmen a 10-7 loss to open league play.

CLU never led in the game and tied the score each time PP took an advantage, though the Sagehens never got a gap of more than one until late in the fourth. The teams exchanged goals in each of the first two quarters to go into halftime knotted at 4-4.

After the break, CLU got just one goal while allowing a pair in the third stanza as the Hens took a 6-5 lead into the final frame. Shea Craig tied the score at 7-7, but over the course of the final 5:36 the Kingsmen allowed three unanswered goals as time ticked down in regulation.

Zach Graper was the only Cal Lutheran player to net more than one goal, scoring a pair, including the lone crooked number in the third adding the first CLU goal of the fourth. Hunter Hamaker, Spencer McGrath, Taylor McMaster and Nathan Ortega each scored as well with Ortega and David Sparks recording an assist apiece. Sparks led the Kingsmen with three drawn ejections and Graper and Max Zappas both tallied a pair.

Defensively, Jesse Owen played all 32 minutes in front of the cage, turning away eight Sagehens shots. A trio of players in McGrath, Zappas and AJ Franklin finished with two steals apiece. Franklin also won both sprints in the second half after McGrath won the first period sprint. Owen chipped in offensively with a drawn ejection and an assist as well.

Cal Lutheran (8-11, 0-1 SCIAC) plays a split doubleheader on Saturday, first facing off with Chapman at 11:00 a.m. before traveling up to Los Angeles to face Division I No. 1 USC at 3:00 p.m.

Box Score: PP 10, CLU 7 - box score not available at time of release
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