FULLERTON, Calif. — Cal Lutheran men's water polo kicked off their season at the Titan Invitational where they fell during three tightly-contested matchups against Chapman, Concordia University Irvine, and Cal State Fullerton. In their final game of the tournament, the Kingsmen beat Division I Top 20-vote-getter Air Force 16-15 for the first time in program history.
GAME ONE: Kingsmen 14, Panthers 17
The Kingsmen trailed by just two goals after the first half, 9-7, and kept pace throughout, as both teams scored five goals in the third. The Panthers pulled away in the final quarter, where they outscored the Kingsmen 3-2, to seal the victory.
Lincoln Hall led the Kingsmen offense, scoring four goals on eight shots, while Kayden Sourbeer added a hat trick with three goals and two assists. Cormac Flanders also contributed two goals and Merrick Giles tallied one goal and two assists. Tommy Riffle and Levi Cook both added a goal each.
Defensively, Bo DuBois and Jack Germann split time in goal, each recording seven saves for a combined total of 14 saves. DuBois also picked up two steals.
GAME TWO: Kingsmen 10, Golden Eagles 13
The Golden Eagles took an early lead with four goals in the first period. Cormac Flanders got the Kingsmen on the board, but they were unable to close the gap in the first.
The Kingsmen responded with a four-goal second period, including two from Nic Mastropoalo. The Golden Eagles kept up on the offensive end which allowed them to maintain a narrow 7-5 advantage over the Kingsmen at halftime.
A six-goal third period for the Golden Eagles gave them a marginal 13-7 lead. Despite a strong effort from the Kingsmen in the fourth when they outscored the Golden Eagles 3-0, they ultimately fell short of pulling off the come-from-behind victory.
Flanders, Mastropoalo, Merrick Giles, and Paul Patterson all posted two-goal games. Kayden Sourbeer and Alan Castillo found the back of the net once, with Sourbeer adding two assists and Castillo adding one.
Jacob Taff (6 saves) and Jaeger Gonzales (7 saves) split time in goal and combined for 13 saves.
GAME THREE: Kingsmen 10, Titans 11
The game opened with both teams trading goals. Ethan Guereca responded to the Titans' early offense, followed by scores from Cormac Flanders and Zane Hermann to keep the Kingsmen level after the first quarter.
A balanced second quarter saw Nic Mastropoalo and Levi Cook add to the scoreboard.
Trailing by one goal heading into the fourth quarter, the Kingsmen fought back with another goal from Guereca and a penalty conversion from Flanders. Despite their efforts, Fullerton held on, outsourcing the Kingsmen 3-1 in crunch time to secure their victory.
GAME FOUR: Kingsmen 16, Falcons 15
The Kingsmen walked away from the tournament with a win, as they took down the Falcons for the first time in the two teams' 14 matchups since 2007.
The Falcons took a 4-3 lead through the first six minutes of the contest, but the defining stretch of the match was a three-minute stretch when the Kingsmen exploded for five consecutive goals.
Both teams combined for a 12-goal second period that took the Kingsmen into halftime leading 12-9.
Despite the Falcons' efforts on the offensive end in the second half, the Kingsmen held on for the one-goal victory. Jaeger Gonzales played the first half and made five saves while Jacob Taff gave the Kingsmen clutch minutes in the second half, closing the game out with six saves and keeping the Falcons off the scoreboard for the last four minutes of the match.
UP NEXT
The Kingsmen travel to Colorado Springs next weekend for five games at the Rare Air Challenged hosted by Air Force. They will take on Biola University in game one on Friday, Sept. 20, at 5 p.m.
