Seniors Stand Tall In Win

Friday, November 6

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

Redlands

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

Seniors Stand Tall In Win

11/6/2015 9:47:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Fittingly, when California Baptist University needed a lift Friday night in its home finale of 2015, it looked to its seniors.

Whether it was the scoring of Clint Walling and David Ring, the passing of Spencer Shore or defense of all three, the Lancers' senior trio answered the call and led their team to a 10-8 non-conference win over Redlands. CBU, which entered the game ranked 19^th, improved to 15-12 with the win over the fourth-ranked Bulldogs (13-13) in NCAA Division III.

"It's always nice to send your seniors out with a win, it's something they'll remember forever," Coach Kevin Rosa said. "It was good we were able to pull it together and do that for them."

"I couldn't ask for anything more, coming back like that and winning in the fourth – that was great water polo," Ring said.

A 5-1 run to end the first half and game-ending 3-0 run over the last 11 minutes paved the way to victory for CBU. Joseph Moorman had 11 saves in the game, but came up big with five in the fourth quarter, including one right before the final buzzer.

"We started attacking, I felt like we were just going through the motions and then we started attacking," Rosa explained of his team's 5-1 run. "We got up on the counter attack, were moving and aggressive. That's when we're playing our best, when we're focused on defense, get up and go."

Walling, Ring and junior Brent Teraoka led the Lancers with two goals each, with Walling and Ring giving CBU a 2-0 lead, notching goals within 44 seconds of each other, 2:49 into the game.

"I thought I was going to be OK, but I was shaking before the game, I was really nervous," Ring said. "I settled my nerves a little bit in the game after Clint scored that goal."

Redlands seized momentum with a 5-0 run that ended two minutes into the second quarter.

Teraoka started the Lancers' crucial 5-1 run with a laser shot from six meters out with 3:33 left in the second quarter. A Bulldogs tally made it 6-3 with 3:08 to go in the half, but Teddy Forte kept momentum with CBU when he took in a pass with his back to the cage at two-meters, rolled and bounced in a goal near post.

Thirty seconds later, Teraoka scored his second goal of the quarter, rattling a shot off the top-right corner of the cage and in, to bring the Lancers within 6-5 of Redlands. Ring added another and Walling finished off a pass from Shore with 16 seconds to go in the half to give his team another lead, 7-6.

"I didn't want to disappoint [my former Coach] Rick [Rowland], Rosa and my other seniors here," Ring said. "I wanted to go out with a bang. I did not want to leave my teammates with a sour memory of tonight."

The Bulldogs would come back and take a lead, 8-7, with the first two goals of the second half, but Tucker Angelo and Thomas Henline each scored in the final three minutes of the third to hand the Lancers the lead again, 9-8.

There was little scoring to be had for either team in the fourth quarter, but Ryan Penney got CBU a clutch insurance goal when he took in a pass from two-meter, rose up and buried a shot with 3:25 to play.

Rosa was proud of the way his team finished, especially his defense, pitching a shutout in the final 11:17 of the game.

"Offensively, we didn't do a whole lot in the second half, but when you're playing defense like that you don't have to," Rosa said. "That's the plan, play hard nose defense and finish your opportunities when you have them."

CBU wraps up the rest of its regular season at Concordia next Friday at noon, as it looks to build up more momentum heading into the WWPA Championships Nov. 20-21.