California Baptist University
Iona College
Two For Thursday
10/4/2013 3:56:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
RIVERSIDE --- California Baptist University scored a pair of big wins on Thursday to run its victory streak to four in a row.
The Lancers defeated No. 17 George Washington in the late game, 11-9, after downing Iona 13-12 earlier in the day.
“These were a couple of good wins for us,” said CBU Head Coach Rick Rowland. “We've been playing well since the game against Air Force.”
CBU's victory over the Colonials was the team's first win over a ranked opponent this season.
The Lancers used a 4-0 run spanning the end of the second quarter through the third to go up 8-5 and play from ahead for the entire final period.
“Blanking them in the third quarter was really the turning point for us,” said Rowland. “We were strong defensively through the middle and that was the key.”
CBU was outscored 4-3 in the fourth, but it wasn't enough as the Lancers built an 11-6 lead and rode it to the finale, surviving three late goals.
Matt Puig had four goals to lead CBU.
“We're tough to beat when Puig plays well like he did in the late game,” said Rowland. “He really came on strong for us.”
After a slow opening half in the early game, the Lancers opened up the third period with a flurry of four-straight goals to take an 8-4 advantage.
CBU scored on its first three possessions of the half, getting two goals out of Puig in the middle to cap the run.
Iona wouldn't go away, however, keeping things close with a 3-1 run to close the quarter and then opening the fourth on another 3-1 run to even the game at 10-10.
Cameron Custance responded, scoring his fourth goal of the contest to give the Lancers back the lead with 3:28 to play. Cody Wetherbee would follow, converting on a penalty shot to put CBU back up by two, 12-10.
Eric Carnohan scored what would be the game-winner with 1:45 to go as CBU had to hold on through two late Iona goals.
The wins move the Lancers to 7-6 on the year. Iona falls to 2-13 overall and George Washington now stands 9-3 on the season.
