California Baptist University
Fresno Pacific
THAT'S A WRAP
11/21/2009 1:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
After the final match of the CBU Fall Classic, the All-Tournament team was chosen, and Lancers Aaron Steiger and Austen Ramer were among those who made the cut. Milos Skaljac and Caleb Hamilton of Concordia were named Co-MVP. Martin Babovich and Jure Belamaric of Concordia also made the team. Nick Fadden and Glenn Lyon were the representative from Fresno Pacific.
In the Lancers' first game of the day against Fresno Pacific, CBU fell behind early, which was a rare sight this season. CBU notched a quick goal to tie the score at 1-1, but the Sunbirds pulled away, eventually stretching their lead to 4-1. The Lancers then rattled off a pair of goals with just 31 seconds left in the quarter to close the gap to one, 4-3, at the end of the first quarter. The Lancers tied the score at 4-4 just over two minutes into the second quarter, but FPU matched the score, retaking the lead 5-4, heading in to halftime.
The Lancers went to work in the third quarter, netting their first goal of the second half just 29 seconds in to tie the score 5-5. Then three minutes into the period, the Lancers took their first lead of the game. They did not pull away, however, as the Sunbirds found the back of the net just 14 seconds later, knotting the score again, this time at 6-6. Then, with less than three and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter, CBU grabbed a lead that they would not relinquish. The Lancers stretched their lead to three, 9-6, at the end of the period.
The Sunbirds mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter. Though the Lancers scored two goals early in the period to take an 11-6 lead, the FPU netted four unanswered goals late in the contest to pull back within one, 11-10. The Lancers played strong defense for the last 90 seconds though, and held on for the win.
Chris Toy led the charge for the Lancers, scoring four goals in the contest. Ramer posted 10 saves in the goal.
In the afternoon contest, the Lancers took on the Eagles, who were looking to settle the score as the two teams had split in the pair of contests earlier in the season. In an uneventful first quarter, CBU scored first to take a 1-0 lead, but with 31 seconds left in the period, Concordia netted a goal to even the score 1-1. The second quarter saw three goals early, with the Eagles taking a 3-2 advantage into halftime.
The Eagles took control in the third quarter, however, as they found the back of the net four more times, while allowing only one CBU score. The Eagles sealed their victory with one final goal in the fourth quarter.
Three different Lancers each had a goal in the loss, and Ramer added nine saves to his season total.
"This was a tough loss, but we played a good first half; it was 3-2 (Concordia) at half," said head coach Rick Rowland, "we just failed to put the ball in [the net] when the opportunities presented themselves.
"It was a good season; we finished ranked No. 17 in the country, against all the [NCAA] Division 1 schools," said Rowland, "I'm proud of our guys. They finished with class."
The Lancers finished their season with an overall record of 23-7.
