Chapter One Complete
DAVIS, Calif. – Without a chance to extend its season, California Baptist University looked to end the year with a victory in the fifth-place game of the Western Water Polo Association Championships.
The sixth-seeded Lancers battled back from an early deficit against a fifth-seeded Air Force squad and tied the match on three occasions. The Falcons paired their strong start with a second-half run to help secure a 15-9 victory at UC Davis.
Cameron Custance led the Lancers' offense with three goals, while CBU's Joseph Moorman provided yet another strong performance in the cage with 10 saves. Senior Trevor Rowland also had a multi-goal game, scoring on both of his shots for CBU, which also received tallies from Matt Puig, Eric Carnohan, Keith Jizmejian and Spencer Shore.
Air Force scored the first three goals of the game within the first four minutes of play, which prompted a Lancers timeout. CBU came out of the break strong and knotted the score at 3, as Rowland scored on a six-on-five play one second before the first quarter came to end. It was the final part of a three-goal run for the Lancers, with them all coming in the final 1:25 of the quarter.
The Falcons stole back momentum with an exclusion goal of their own 59 seconds into the second frame, which led to both teams trading goals. CBU had answers to two quick Air Force scores, as Custance's backhanded goal tied things at 4 and another from Rowland evened things up at 5.
Another exclusion goal began a 3-0 Falcons' run to give them an 8-5 lead, which they built up to a 13-8 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
CBU kept within three on scores from Custance, Puig and Jizmejian until Air Force scored twice in the final 48 seconds of the third quarter. Shore capped the Lancers' scoring with 4:48 to play.
With its first season in the WWPA complete, CBU finishes up with a 15-17 record. Defending conference champion Air Force finish the year at 6-14.
