THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Appearing in the Samuelson Aquatics Center for the final time today, a trio of Cal Lutheran men's water polo seniors enjoyed a memorable morning in a 12-7 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) win over Occidental.
Prior to the first whistle Jack Acampora, Shea Craig and AJ Franklin were each recognized. Franklin used the emotion to produce, matching a career-high, six goals with four drawn ejections while Acampora finished his CLU water polo career at home with a goal, a steal and a field block. Unfortunately, Craig was sidelined.
After a back-and-forth start to the first quarter Franklin built the Kingsmen a 3-0 lead with a hat-trick that he scored within a minute. The Tigers managed to put up one crooked number in the opening period.
The Kingsmen came out with strong defense in the second quarter. Chris Gardhouse posted huge back-to-back field blocks to keep the Violet and Gold ahead 3-2. Franklin continued to find open looks, using a one-on-one off a pass from Ben Russell to score the first goal of the second stanza, pushing the CLU lead to 4-2 four minutes in. Acampora notched a goal of his own at the 41 second mark. Franklin reiterated that it was his senior today, skipping a shot into the top right corner from 25 meters out as the halftime buzzer sounded to give Cal Lutheran a 6-2 advantage.
The third quarter proved to be nothing different for Cal Lutheran. An impressive first few minutes led to the Kingsmen striking first. CLU executed a great counterattack effort flawlessly with Cameron Hauer feeding the ball to Zack Card for a lob shot goal. On the ensuing possession, Ryan Moguel grabbed a rebound off an Oxy goalkeeper save and in one fluid motion found the back of the net for an 8-2 lead. Although the Tigers clawed back into things, a little bit, the Kingsmen maintained a five-goal lead at 10-5 going into the final frame.
Occidental opened the fourth with two goals in the first two minutes, though the home team controlled the pace of play to the final buzzer. The defense continued to shine and a point blank shot was denied by CLU goalie Nick Loomis after a save moments earlier to keep the teams separated by four at 11-7 with just over two and a half minutes to play. Gardhouse would punch one in to increase the score in the final minute of regulation.
Overall, Loomis finished with 14 saves and Gardhouse was a menace in the field with four blocks. Card was the only other Kingsmen player with multiple goals, tallying two. Hauer handed out four assists and Card and Russell each finished with a pair. Card, Gardhouse, Moguel and Mats Albins drew two ejections apiece.
Cal Lutheran (9-12, 3-4 SCIAC) has a week off before returning to competition on Saturday, Nov. 14 to conclude the first round of SCIAC play at Pomona-Pitzer with an 11:00 a.m. first sprint.
Box Score: CLU 12, OXY 7
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