MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
STOCKTON, Calif. ? California Baptist can come back to Riverside knowing they hung with the best of the best in the pool after spending the past two days at the NorCal Tournament among the nation's elite.
The 17th-ranked Lancers (11-5) opened the day by almost knocking off No. 11 UC Davis in a 10-9 loss and then closed the tournament with a 14-9 win over No. 20 Air Force.
Aaron Steiger scored seven goals on the day with four coming against Air Force. It was the eighth and ninth time this year that the nation's leading scorer (including NCAA) had notched at least three goals in a single game.
In the loss to the Aggies, Steiger actually tied the contest at eight, in the fourth on a 6-on-5 and the Lancers tied it again at 9-9 with just minutes left. That's when UC Davis got the break it needed when the Lancers'
Brent Troutman was called for a brutality penalty that gave the Aggies a five-meter penalty shot and the ball back. UCD converted on the penalty shot and ran almost the rest of the time off to seal the win.
The game was knotted at four at the end of the first half and the Aggies carried an 8-7 lead into the fourth, before pulling off the win. Steiger led the Lancers with a hat trick while
Chris Toy scored a pair of goals and
Chris Morgan,
Alex Shorts,
Jeff Woolstenhulme and
Peter Hines all scored solo goals.
Morgan dished out three assists and Toy notched two. Six different Lancers recorded steals including keeper
Zach Bowman who had one and also posted six saves.
While Steiger's four goals against the Falcons might be a noteworthy item, it was the battle at two-meters that was the story of the game with Air Force. CBU's
Peter Hines and Air Force's Jack Hines are two Riverside Poly products. Jack, a junior for the Falcons, may be the older of the two brothers, but the young freshman for the Lancers got the last laugh with his first hat trick of the year.
Alan Ogden also scored a hat trick while Morgan, Shorts, Toy and
Nick Janzen all scored single goals. Steiger also did his part in setting teammates up with three assists.
Chris Gwinn also dished out a pair of assists.
Dylan Cox racked up 11 saves in the win.
California Baptist now gets set to host the Lancer Invite Sept. 26-27 at the Lancer Aquatics Center.
