LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- On a day where a historic coaching career came to a close for California Baptist University's
Rick Rowland, his Lancers helped set new marks for the program to strive for going forward.
As Rowland's career as a CBU water polo coach ended, as he will shift his sole focus to only CBU swim/dive in 2015-16, the Lancers had a program-best finish in a conference and a new single-season saves leader in
Joseph Moorman. It all came despite a 17-10 loss to 14th-ranked and second-seeded UC Davis in the Western Water Polo Association Championship third-place game.
The Lancers also had two All-WWPA Tournament honors, with Moorman and fellow sophomore standout
Brent Teraoka earning first and second-team honors, respectively. The accolade came after Teraoka led or was tied for the team lead in goals scored for CBU in all three tournament games. He finished the day with a hat trick, while
Eric Carnohan and
Cody Wetherbee scored twice.
Moorman registered 13 saves in the contest, giving him a total of 424 in 2014 to break the program's previous single-season record of 415 set by current Lancer women's water polo coach
Jonathan Miller in 2007. It also ended a monumental season for Moorman, who also had a record-breaking performance for saves in a game (27) in 2014.
CBU's fourth-place finish in its second season in the WWPA was a program best in a conference, as well. It came close to a bronze performance against the Aggies, scoring the first two goals of the day, thanks to
Davor Koret and
David Ring. UC Davis battled back to end the first half tied at 3-3 after another score from Wetherbee.
The Aggies scored six-straight from there to take a 9-3 advantage early in the third quarter. Despite a strong push, the Lancers were unable to overcome the deficit. They did match UC Davis goal for goal in the fourth quarter, as each team scored five goals each. Carnohan and Teraoka both scored a pair of goals over the final eight minutes, with
Nick Candau also scoring in the final frame.
