THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran men's water polo team wrapped up its 2013 regular season with a 16-9 drubbing of Occidental Saturday morning. After honoring the program's six seniors before the game, the Kingsmen were led by Hunter Hamaker's five goals and goalkeeper Jesse Owens' seven saves. Cal Lutheran was especially stout on defense, collecting six field blocks.
CLU got out to a 5-2 lead in the first quarter thanks to three goals from Hamaker and another from Nathan Ortega.
The Kingsmen piled on four more goals in the second quarter after some nifty passing from AJ Franklin, Sepncer McGrath, Taylor McMaster and Mike Potter. Each of the players handed out assists as the Kingsmen stretched their second quarter lead to 9-3.
Cal Lutheran and Occidental exchanged goals to start the second half with Hamaker scoring his fourth goal of the game with 5:22 left to play in the third quarter. After conceding two Occidental goals, Nathan Ortega scored to put CLU up 11-5. Then the highlight of the day came when Owens caught the Occidental goalie too far out of the cage and launched a cross-court shot that found the back of the net for a score.
Mike Artega, Max Zappas and Hamaker would all score in the final frame as CLU closed out the game and moved to .500 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play.
Zack Card and Cameron Hauer each drew ejections in the win while Shea Craig led the Kingsmen with two field blocks. McMaster had seven steals while David Sparks had three to lead CLU defensively.
In addition to Hamaker, McGrath, Sparks and Zappas, seniors Derrick Graham and Conrad Sheffer also played in their final home game.
With the win, Cal Lutheran (12-15, 4-4 SCIAC) locked up the sixth seeded for next week's SCIAC Tournament. The Kingsmen will play Redlands Friday, Nov. 22 against the Bulldogs on the campus of Chapman University. Game times will be set later next week.
Box Score: CLU 16 OXY 9
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
Follow David: @D_Sparks2
CLU Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clusports
