CLAREMONT, Calif. - The final tournament of the fall for the Cal Lutheran men's water polo team was a lucrative one as the Kingsmen went 3-1 against a slate of tough teams, including Division I, II and III opponents, during the 2014 Gary Troyer Invitational hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer.
The weekend opened on a strong note when the CLU team earned their first victory of the season in a high scoring 17-12 affair against Division II Gannon (Pa.) in which nearly everyone contributed. The Violet and Gold opened a 3-2 advantage and never looked back, leading 10-5 at the break. AJ Franklin paced the offense with four goals as 10 different Kingsmen found the back of the net. Shea Craig, Tyler Graper, Cameron Knudsen and Mike Potter each scored twice in the game. Mike Arteaga handed out three assists and Jake Gallagher, Taylor McMaster and Ben Russell dished out a pair apiece. Gallagher also drew three ejections as did Mickey Hamel. T. Graper had two field blocks and a trio of steals to lead the team defensively. Jesse Owen earned eight saves in three quarters and Michael Walk came on in the fourth quarter to notch four saves.
In an afternoon showdown with Washington & Jefferson, Cal Lutheran took a 4-1 advantage, but the teams were tied 5-5 at the intermission. A three-goal fourth quarter was the difference as the Kingsmen held on for a 10-8 victory. Camron Hauer was a menace all over the pool with a hat-trick, four drawn ejections and a trio of steals. Craig added two more goals while the remaining scoring plays came from a plethora of players. Mike Potter provided three assists and Zack Card handed out two. Defensively, Card, Potter and Arteaga each had a field block, Arteaga and T. Graper each grabbed two steals and Owen tallied 10 saves in front of the cage.
On Saturday morning, the Kingsmen jumped back in the pool to face Division I programs in Harvard and Iona.
Though the first game of the day was close, Harvard took a 4-0 lead over the first three minutes and pushed the advantage to 8-3 after the first period, which was too much ground for the Kingsmen to make up. CLU would tack on three in the fourth quarter to close the gap in a 14-9 loss.
Asante Sefa-Boakye paced the team with three goals, two drawn ejections and a pair of steals. The only other player with more than one goal against Harvard was Zach Graper who netted two. Aiding the offense, Arteaga and Hamel combined for four drawn ejections with a pair apiece. McMaster managed to grab a pair of steals and Craig recorded the only field block of the contest while Owen turned away eight Crimson shots in 32 minutes of action.
Just as it started, the weekend ended with a thriller as CLU defeated Iona 15-14 on a game-winning goal from T. Graper. The Kingsmen opened a 7-3 lead after the first frame though the Gaels chipped back into it, pulling the score to 10-7 in favor of Cal Lutheran at the break. Out of the intermission, Iona netted four to CLU's one to make things exciting. Down the stretch the teams exchanged goals, but the sophomore was the difference maker for the Violet and Gold.
Z. Graper finished with four goals to match teammate Sefa-Boakye for the lead while Nathan Ortega added a pair. Hauer handed out three assists and Arteaga and Franklin were each credited with two. Both Franklin and Z. Graper drew a pair of ejections in the win as well. Defensively, the Kingsmen looked to their goalkeeper for 14 saves and four steals as Owen guarded the cage for the entire game. The only other player with multiple steals was Arteaga with two.
A productive weekend featured nearly all CLU players with many contributing to the victories.
Cal Lutheran (3-8) will play at home for the first time of the year on Thursday, Oct. 9 when the Kingsmen host Mercyhurt (Pa.) for a 5:00 p.m. first sprint at the Samuelson Aquatics Center.
Box Score: CLU 17, GAN 12
Box Score: CLU 10, W&J 8 - box score unavailable
Box Score: HAR 14, CLU 9 - box score unavailable
Box Score: CLU 15, IONA 14 - box score unavailable
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