THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— Cal Lutheran men's water polo outlasted the La Verne Leopards 16-13 on Senior Day, keeping their playoff hopes alive, Saturday afternoon in a rowdy game.
Before the match, the Kingsmen honored their four seniors, Hans Cole, Seth Hightower, Tanner Kaplan and George Lundgren for their dedication to the program.
The seniors delivered on Senior Day and improved to 12-9 overall and 5-5 in SCIAC play. It's a three-way battle for the fourth and final spot of the conference tournament with Chapman at 5-5 and Redlands at 4-5.
Lundgren led the way for the offense with four goals and Ben Brown was next with a hat trick. The Kingsnen spread the love as Cole dished out four assists and Brown and Tommy Corey both added two. Cole Weiderman put his team in great positions with three drawn ejections and Parker Jory had two more.
Andre Rivas was in the cage for the whole game and kept the Kingsmen ahead in the second half. He successfully blocked two 5-meter shots to give his squad the momentum throughout the match. Altogether, he tallied 11 saves and two assists.
Cal Lutheran's defense did not have its best game, but made a stand when they needed to the most. Stephen Blaauw and Dillon Goldsmith led the hard-nosed defense with four steals each.
The teams were even at the half as the Kingsmen and Leopards both scored three goals in the first quarter and four in the second. The third quarter continued to be just as tight, with Cal Lutheran taking a small advantage of 10-9 heading to the fourth.
CLU opened up the lead early in the fourth as Brown scored back-to-back goals and Rivas came up with a big penalty-shot save. Jory put the finishing touches on the game as he scored the last two goals for the Kingsmen as Cal Lutheran defeated La Verne.
Up next for Cal Lutheran is two non-conference games on Sunday. The Kinsgmen take on Pepperdine at 12 p.m. before Concordia-Irvine at 3.
Box Score: CLU 16, ULV 13
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
