THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - On a breezy Friday afternoon, the Cal Lutheran men's water polo team breezed past Ventura College 19-5 and Occidental 9-3 in a pair of strong performances at the Kingsmen Mini Tournament inside Samuelson Aquatics Center. CLU has now won six straight games and has scored 90 goals during its streak.
CLU def. Ventura College 19-5
In the first game of the day, the Kingsmen put on a scoring clinic, pouring in at least 19 goals for the third consecutive game. The Pirates held a brief 1-0 lead after scoring in the first minute, however, it was all Violet and Gold from that point on. Chris Gardhouse put the Kingsmen on the board at the 6:52 mark in the first and added two more goals in the quarter to help CLU pull away. After taking a 9-3 lead at the break, five different Kingsmen scored a goal, to blow the game open in the third. Gardhouse finished with a game-high four goals followed by Taggart Diehl with three. Jack Kirby, Davy Thomas, and Zack Card added a pair of goals apiece. In the cage, Nick Loomis recorded 10 saves to go along with a steal and an assist.
CLU def. Occidental 9-3
In the second game, the Kingsmen faced a tougher test against SCIAC opponent Occidental. The Tigers stormed out of the gate and took a quick 2-0 lead, all while holding a high-octane Kingsmen offense to just one goal in the first half. To start the third quarter, Loomis lobbed a deep pass to George French for a breakaway score to tie the game and French quickly followed with two more goals to give the Kingsmen a 4-2 lead. From there, CLU found its groove again and outscored Occidental 8-1 in the second half. French led the team with four goals while Gardhouse added another three to his season tally. Matt Fong and French each racked up three steals and Gardhouse led the way with four drawn ejections. Loomis finished with 12 saves. The Kingsmen were peppering the goal with shots all game and could have added more to the final score if it weren't for a huge 25 save game from the Tiger goalie Adam Florsheim.
Cal Lutheran (6-3) will compete next at the Gary Troyer Tournament in Claremont, Calif. beginning on Friday, Oct. 7 against Connecticut College at 10:15 a.m. followed by Fresno Pacific at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 8 the Kingsmen will take on Fordham (N.Y.) at 9:10 a.m. and Concordia at 12:40 p.m.
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