REDLANDS, Calif. - The season finale for the Cal Lutheran men's water polo team was a battle as the Kingsmen closed out the 2014 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Men's Water Polo Championships, hosted by Redlands, with a 13-12 victory over La Verne to take fifth place in one of the most evenly matched and closest games of the weekend.
A defensive battle began with just two total goals in the opening period of action with AJ Franklin netting the first CLU goal of the game before scoring the ultimate game-winner in the fourth quarter.
After the second stanza, LV had taken a slim 6-5 advantage and in the third Cal Lutheran notched one more goal than the Leopards to send the squads into the final frame knotted back up at 9-9. During the final eight minutes CLU opened a lead and while the Leos continued to chip away, the Kingsmen held on to clinch the victory for Cal Lutheran.
Leading the way for the Violet and Gold once again was Zach Graper who closed out his career with another stellar performance by scoring four times. Additionally, he drew a team-leading four ejections. Other hat-tricks today came from Franklin and Ryan Moguel. In all, seven different players handed out an assist and the Kingsmen joined forces for 11 total drawn ejections. Asante Sefa-Boakye was responsible for one in his last collegiate game.
Defensively, in his final appearance for Cal Lutheran, Jesse Owen recorded 12 saves and earned three steals in 32 minutes of action. Franklin paced the Kingsmen with four steals wile Z. Graper joined Owen with a trio of takeaways. Mike Potter earned a steal in his final game. The only field block of the game came from senior Nathan Ortega.
Cal Lutheran (10-14, 6-5 SCIAC) reached double-figure victories for the fifth consecutive season. CLU bids farewell to six seniors including Z. Graper, Ortega, Owen, Potter, Sefa-Boakye and Mike Arteaga.
Tournament Central: 2014 SCIAC Men's Water Polo Championships
Box Score: CLU 13, LV 12 - box score unavailable at time of release
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