California Baptist University
Concordia
Winning for Rowland
11/15/2014 5:49:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
Box Score
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – It was no surprise when California Baptist University and Concordia's second meeting this season turned into an emotional ride Saturday. It wound up being a roller coaster for both sides, with both teams playing their regular-season finales, but it was CBU that peaked at the perfect time for the 14-12 victory.
"Emotions were definitely high," said CBU two-meter Nick Candau, who finished with a game-high five goals.
For the sixth time this year, the Lancers went into overtime. The dramatics made the victory even sweeter for the Lancers as they honored their seniors and Rick Rowland, who was coaching his final home game with the program after leading it the past 16 seasons.
"It's a dream, you want to go out at home with a win," Rowland said. "You can't win every game, but if you can win your last game at home, it leaves a good taste in your mouth."
CBU improved to 14-18 this season, heading into the Western Water Polo Association Conference Tournament at Loyola Marymount starting next Friday. Concordia ends its season with a 6-12 record.
While the Eagles worked its way to a three-goal lead in the third quarter, CBU did not mind and used the deficit as fuel to power them outscoring CUI 10-6 in the second half and overtime.
A number of players had standout performances for CBU, starting with Candau's game-high five goals. Brent Teraoka did a hat trick one better with four goals for CBU, which received two big tallies from Cody Wetherbee (three drawn ejections, two assists) in overtime.
It was a nice sendoff for Wetherbee, who is set to graduate after this season. Fellow-senior Eric Carnohan also drew four ejections, compiled two assists, two steals and a goal in his final home game. It was also Jake Jizmejian's Senior Day, but the defensive standout was unable to play with an injury.
"I know Cody was upset with himself for missing some shots, but he really stepped up big in overtime," Rowland said. "It's always good to see your seniors do that."
Key to the victory was the Lancers' ability to draw one ejection after another. They drew 15 exclusions on the night and scored on seven of them, while getting four Eagles to major out of the game.
Still, Concordia seemed to be sitting pretty with an 8-5 lead and 11:52 left in regulation, but it quickly turned as the Lancers made their push.
"We're a weird team, we actually like to play from behind," Candau said. "We always get a fire under our bellies and we really get going with coach Rowland directing us. We really execute under pressure and that's when we really play well."
Elad Gunya started the comeback when he cashed in a six-on-five with 2:46 remaining in the third, and Carnohan scored in transition with 14 seconds left in the frame off a Wetherbee pass, to bring CBU within 8-7 going into the fourth.
Candau tied things up at 8-8 with the first goal of the fourth quarter, coming 1:29 into the frame. CUI went back up on a six-on-five goal from Jakov Belamaric with 4:19 left in regulation, CBU answered with an exclusion tally of its own from Clint Walling to even the score at 9-9 on the next possession.
The Lancers finally completed their journey back into the lead, 10-9, when Teraoka scored off a dime pass from Davor Koret (three assists) on a man-advantage with 1:17 left in the fourth. Concordia got another game-tying goal from Belamaric to send things into overtime.
Wetherbee turned up clutch in overtime, scoring CBU's first two goals of overtime, to give the Lancers a 12-11 edge 20 seconds into the second extra period. CBU got a big stop and an even bigger goal from Teraoka on its next trip down the pool, as it jumped out to a 13-11 cushion with just over two minutes to play.
The Eagles kept their hopes alive with a penalty-shot goal from Josh Mundell, but Candau rattled home his fifth goal on a no-look hook shot with 1:18 to go. Still in need of a stop, Teraoka came up with a steal with 59 seconds left, allowing CBU to burn up some valuable clock.
CUI was left with one last shot, but the Lancers' defense funneled an easy shot right to Joseph Moorman, who made his 13th save of the night to preserve the victory.
Now CBU will await to see who it draws first in the WWPA Tournament. The Lancers will hope to keep their season alive and make a magical push into the playoffs and win the conference tournament.
"It's a clean slate at conference," Rowland said, "anything can happen and that's what's exciting about the conference tournament."
