California Baptist University
Pomona-Pitzer
Lessons Learned
9/22/2013 4:37:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
RIVERSIDE – In the final day of the Lancer Invite, California Baptist University came out with a loss and a win to stand 3-5 on the season.
“We've struggled this weekend,” said head coach Rick Rowland. “We typically do 4-0 in the Lancer Invite, but we've been inconsistent on defense. We've also missed a lot of opportunities from point-blank range.”
CBU first dropped an 11-9 decision to Pomona-Pitzer, before buckling down on defense to claim a 9-7 win over Claremont Mudd-Scripps.
In the Lancers' opening game, CBU started strong, scoring three goals in the first period of play. Keith Jizmejian and Eric Carnohan netted the trio of goals, with Jizmejian finishing twice, to give CBU a 3-1 lead after the first eight minutes.
The Sagehens kept the game close, outscoring the Lancers 4-2 in the second quarter to send the teams tied at 5-5 at halftime.
David Ring and Cody Wetherbee added two early goals in the third, giving the Lancers a 7-5 advantage over the Sagehens, but the lead wouldn't last long. Despite goalie Dylan Vrooman's efforts in the final quarter, Pomona-Pitzer powered through to overtake the lead and hold on to an 11-9 win.
"It's never how you start, it's how you finish," said Rowland. "We learned some things on defense against Pomona-Pitzer that will help us in the long run."
CBU finished the game 2-for-4 on 5-on-6 power play situations. Vrooman registered nine saves in the goal for the Lancers.
Determined to get a win on the day, Jizmejian and Wetherbee each found the back of the net in the first quarter to give CBU an early 2-1 lead over CMS.
The Stags weren't willing to let the Lancers go too easily, though, keeping the score within two points throughout the remainder of the half. CBU held a 6-4 advantage over CMS at halftime, despite a late push with two shots in the last 10 seconds of the quarter.
Trying to shake off the Stags, Jizmejian gave the Lancers their largest lead of the game with a 7-4 advantage in the opening minute of the third. Brent Teraoka drilled a shot past the CMS goalie in the last second of the quarter, sending the teams into the final quarter with a score of 8-5 in favor of CBU.
“We showed much more patience on offense,” said Rowland. “We had some good transitions down the pool.”
David Rodriguez opened the lead up even more in the opening of the fourth, but the goal would be the last for the Lancers. The Stags made a final push, scoring back-to-back breakaway goals to put the game within two, but Vrooman wouldn't surrender any more to the Stags to make sure his team would stay on top.
The Lancers ended the game with a 2-for-6 effort on 5-on-6 scenarios. Vrooman finished the game with 10 saves for CBU and stole the ball away from the Stags six times—the Lancers had 14 total team steals to keep CMS at bay.
“Vrooman had a stellar game,” said Rowland. “We were really strong down the spine of our team, from Vrooman in goal to Rodriguez and Puig on offense.”
CBU heads to Colorado next weekend for the Air Force Tournament held Friday through Saturday.
