California Baptist University
Occidental
OWNING OXY, LANCING LA VERNE
9/25/2011 2:55:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
DAVIS, Calif. --- Bouncing back from a loss on Friday evening, California Baptist University's scoring exploded on Saturday with a pair of wins over Occidental and La Verne.
In the nightcap, CBU defeated La Verne with a score of 18-8, led by balanced scoring from 15 different Lancers.
"We played 25 different guys again," Head Coach Rick Rowland said. "I don't know if in our history we were ever able to go that deep and have that score."
Seniors Jeremy Atkinson and Brent Troutman set the pace for the match, each winning two sprints apiece to secure the possession of each quarter. Troutman also tallied one goal and three assists, while Atkinson scored twice and drew an ejection from a Panther.
"Troutman is probably the best all-around player we had this weekend, both offensively and defensively," Rowland said. "Atkinson stepped it up on assists and shooting end this weekend. He put on a show for his relatives that came to watch him play. He stepped up for the occasion."
The game was all but decided at halftime with a 13-3 score, but the La Verne offense kicked up with a four-goal third quarter before the Lancer defense held them to another one goal quarter to finish the match.
Freshman David Vrooman stepped in goal during the second half to produce a five saves, three assists performance after Ramer stepped out with the same stats.
The advantage opportunities were seemingly equal, as La Verne produces half of their goals on 6-on-5 attacks. CBU scored on three of their 6-on-5 advantages and from a 2-meter penalty shot from Nick Janzen.
Coach Rowland also received impressive showings from freshmen Jake Jizmejian and Spencer Shore. Jizmejian drew two ejections and recorded three steals and Shore contributed one goal.
"[Jizmejian and Shore] are two players of the future and they really showed some value today," Rowland said. "Definitely in transition, these guys are off to the races when the ball turns over. I really like the way they play this weekend against some veteran teams. "
From the opening minute, California Baptist University dominated to a 18-6 win, that included goals from 10 different Lancers, over Occidental in the morning game of the Aggie Shootout.
Just 17 seconds in, Scott Gleason scored the first of his four first half goals to spark the Lancer offense that quickly jumped to a 4-0 lead with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Followed by goals from Chris Toy, Danny Mundy and another from Gleason, Trevor Rowland found the back of the net late in the first for a 5-1 lead at the end of one.
Four Lancers scored their first goal of the season against Occidental, including a second quarter goal from Atkinson. Scott Butler also contributed to CBU's 9-2 lead at halftime.
"We played all 25 guys and had balanced play and scoring," Rowland said after the Occidental game. "I think we show how much depth we have when we have 10 different guys scoring."
Though Occidental only committed five exclusion fouls, CBU still took the advantage and scored on two 6-on-5 drives. On the opposite side of the ball, the Lancer defense held the Tigers to three goals in 10 advantage opportunities.
Both of CBU's 6-on-5 goals came in the third quarter from Robert Nichols, his first of the season, and Jizmejian. Matt Puig and Shore also contributed goals to take CBU to 13-3 heading into the final eight minutes.
For his first goals of the season, Beau Brumley not only scored but completed the hat-trick in the fourth quarter for three of CBU's final five goals.
Goalkeeper Ramer added another 11 saves to his season, along with four steals for a 28+ performance and the team's MVP of the game, according to Rowland.
"At this point in the season, after this weekend, we're showing we're a team of speed and a team of depth," Rowland said. "We want to continue to work on our front-court game and our 6-on-5."
Now 6-4, CBU returns home next weekend for the Lancer Invite. Over the course of two days, CBU will host 10 games including matchups with Claremont Mudd-Scripps, California Lutheran, Chapman, Whittier and Vanguard.
