California Baptist University
Pepperdine University
FINISHING STRONG AT TRITON INVITATIONAL
9/2/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
SAN DIEGO, Calif. ? Opening weekend for California Baptist University's men's water polo program turned out to be a weekend test of perseverance and endurance. Rick Rowland's (CBU head coach) squads consistently compete against some of the top notch schools in the NCAA. Saturday and Sunday's Triton Tournament at UC San Diego was no different. The Lancers played four top 20 schools including No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 10 Loyola Marymount, No. 11 UC Davis and No. 19 Pomona Pitzer. CBU (1-3) hit rough waters Saturday falling to the Waves 16-9 (3-1) and the Lions (2-2) 21-7. Sunday the Lancers took the Aggies (3-1) down to the wire falling 10-8 and then captured seventh place defeating the Sagehens (0-4) 17-10.
In the game against Pamona, Josh Harris led all scorers with eight goals with four coming in the second quarter. Aaron Steiger scored a hat trick while brother Ryan Steiger scored a pair of goals himself. David Graves, Jeff Woolstenhulme, Louis Talamantes and Alan Ogden all scored a goal as well.
The Lancers never fell behind and the Sagehens tied the game just twice at 2-2 and 3-3 before CBU started to distance itself. The Lancers held an 11-6 lead at the half and outscored Pamona 6-4 in the second half to capture their first win of the season.
In the first game Sunday, the Lancers took a 1-0 lead on the Aggies with a Ryan Steiger goal and then pushed the lead to 3-1 on back-to-back goals from Ogden and Ryan Steiger. UC Davis tied the game at three with back-to-back goals, but CBU answered by way of Jeff Woolstenhulme who gave the Lancers a 4-3 lead heading into halftime. The Aggies tied the game at four early in the third quarter, but once again CBU took a two-goal lead on goals by Morgan and Aaron Steiger and pushed the lead to 8-5 on goals by Ryan Steiger and Harris. The Aggies added another goal just before the end of the third and then outscored CBU 4-0 in the fourth taking the 10-8 decision.
Ryan Steiger and Harris, the leading scorers from 2006, each scored a hat trick against Pepperdine while Chris Morgan added a pair of goals as well. David Graves scored the only other goal for CBU. Harris scored the first goal of the game with 4:30 left in the first quarter, but that was the only lead the Lancers had on the Waves. Pepperdine answered with a 4-2 run and never looked back.
It was the same scenario against LMU as CBU jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Lions on goals by Harris and Ogden. LMU answered with a 9-2 run to close out the half and then outscored the Lancers 12-3 in the second half. Harris and Ogden both scored a pair of goals while Ryan Steiger, Morgan and Aaron Steiger each scored single goals.
The Lancers return to the water Tuesday for the annual Blue vs. White scrimmage and host UC Irvine for the home opener Friday at 3 p.m.
