THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Returning home for the final two games of the 2013 men's water polo regular season, Cal Lutheran opened the home stand by defeating La Verne 17-13 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play today.
CLU took a 4-1 first quarter lead behind goals from four different players. La Verne would storm back to take a 6-5 lead in the second, but a string of four unanswered goals from the Kingsmen put the Violet and Gold on top 9-6 going into the break. The teams would exchange two goals apiece in the third to go into the last eight minute period at 11-9. CLU outscored LV 6-5 in the final frame behind an offensive explosion from AJ Franklin and clung to the victory.
Taylor McMaster got the scoring started and Franklinadding his first of the game on an assist from Zack Card. At the defensive end of the pool Shea Craig came up with a field block and followed up with a goal on the ensuing CLU possession to push the lead to 3-1. Max Zappas would tack on one more with three ticks remaining in the first period to provide a three-goal cushion.
The momentum briefly shifted in the second stanza as La Verne used back-to-back man-up situations to net goals, adding a third later in the quarter to knot the teams at 5-5. Zappas stormed back with an equalizing goal at 6-6 on an assist from McMaster followed by a trio of CLU goals. LV had an opportunity to net another late in the frame when they drew a five-meter shot, but Jesse Owen came up with his sixth save of the half to preserve the three-goal lead.
After LV jumped out with a pair of goals early in the third, the Kingsmen chipped back into things and with 20 seconds remaining the defense forced a the shot clock expiration on the Leos, whose possession began in a 6-on-5 opportunity. Spencer McGrath went down the pool to notch his only goal of the game, giving the Kingsmen their eleventh overall.
The final frame saw Franklin score a trio of goals, including back-to-back ones to start off the stanza. The second was generated by a Zappas steal and opened the gap to four at 13-9. After Mike Potter drew an exclusion Card scored and a minute and a half later Franklin lobbed a shot to the top right corner, opening the CLU gap to 15-11. Nathan Ortega scored his second of the game on a skip shot from hear the half-court line at the 2:09 mark and Craig added to his total for the final scoring play of the day for Cal Lutheran.
Overall Franklin finished with six goals, four assists and three steals. McMaster tallied a hat-trick and an assist, but more impressive came up with a phenomenal defensive showing today. Zappas also had another solid performance with a game-high six steals to go along with three assists, two goals and a pair of drawn ejections. Craigcontributed at both ends of the pool with a pair of goals, a drawn ejection, a steal and a field block. Recording another field block today was Sparks, who chipped in with two steals, a goal and an assist as well. Owen tallied 10 saves in all.
La Verne (6-18, 2-4 SCIAC) was led by four goals from Matthew Vega and three from Tyler Hunt. The Leopards goalkeeper Daniel Newell totaled seven saves.
Cal Lutheran (11-15, 3-4 SCIAC) concludes the first round of action on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 11:00 a.m. when the Kingsmen host Occidental at 11:00 a.m. in the Samuelson Aquatics Center. Prior to introductions the senior class will be recognized.
Box Score: CLU 17, ULV 13
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
Follow David: @D_Sparks2
CLU Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clusports
