THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Both defenses came to play on Wednesday night as No. 6 Cal Lutheran men's water polo held No. 7 La Verne to single-digit goals. However, in the end, the Kingsmen came up just short against the Leopards by a score of 9-7. 

In the first quarter, La Verne got the scoring started shortly after they gained possession on a shot clock violation by the Kingsmen. Later in the quarter, the Kingsmen's Adam Dow evened things up, but the Leopards ultimately outscored the Kingsmen 2-1 to conclude the first quarter.

Halfway through the second quarter, the Kingsmen knotted things up at two apiece after a shot from Levi Cook hit the back of the net. The Leopards went on to score four unanswered goals in the quarter to take a 6-2 lead into the second half.

The offense appeared to have found their groove in the third quarter, as they tripled their goals and outscored the Leopards 4-3 in the third quarter to bring them within three goals of La Verne. 

Goals were hard to come by in the fourth quarter as the Kingsmen scored the only goal and fell just short of a second-half comeback by a score of 9-7.

As a team, the Kingsmen outshot the Leopards 36-26, with Jack Bradbury leading the offensive charge with a team-leading seven shots on goal, one goal, and a team-high five steals. Cook, Dow, Tommy Riffle, Zane Hermann, Kayden Sourbeer, and Brody Swarm accounted for the rest of the goals, netting one each. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Bo DuBois spent the game in goal, recording 12 saves and three steals. Lincoln Hall and Dow both recorded two steals.

The Kingsmen (7-17, 4-7 SCIAC) look to finish the season strong on Senior Day when they host their final game of the season against Pomona-Pitzer at 11 a.m.