CBU Makes Third WWPA Semifinal Trip

Friday, November 18

Santa Clara, Calif.

2:00 PM

California Baptist University

Santa Clara

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

CBU Makes Third WWPA Semifinal Trip

11/18/2016 5:13:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A true team effort led California Baptist University to a 10-8 win over Santa Clara in the first round of the Western Water Polo Association Championship on Friday afternoon at the Sullivan Aquatics Center.

Eight different goal scorers led the 15^th-ranked and fourth-seeded Lancers to the road win over the fifth-seeded Broncos. Brent Teraoka scored a team-high three goals for CBU, with all of his goals coming in the final eight minutes, 11 seconds of regulation. Fellow senior, goalie Joseph Moorman blocked 15 shots, forced two steals and added an assist in the win.

"It was a back-and-forth game, at this point of the season there aren't going to be any runaways," Coach Kevin Rosa said. "It was a gritty, hard-fought, intense game like it should be. They put up a fight but we were able to come up with a couple big plays to win the game."

CBU has now advanced to the WWPA Championship semifinals for the third year in a row. It will face UC Davis in a semifinal rematch from last year on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. Second-seeded UC San Diego and No. 3 Loyola Marymount play in Saturday's other semifinal at 1 p.m.

Tomorrow's winners will play in the conference championship game the next day at 1 p.m. and the other teams will compete in the in the third-place game at 11:15 a.m.

By halftime on Friday, the Lancers built their lead as high as 8-5, but Santa Clara was due for a run in front of its home crowd. The Broncos went on a 3-1 run to rally within a goal, 9-8, on a five-meter penalty shot with 6:12 to play.

"It all came down defense," Teraoka said. "We scored enough offensively, we just had to stop them on defense."

Grasping a one-goal lead with over six minutes remaining, Moorman ended consecutive Santa Clara possessions with steals and then set up a goal with a save and outlet pass. Elad Gunya led the counterattack down the left side of the pool, and found Teraoka on the weak side with a pinpoint pass. Teraoka scored easily to give CBU a commanding 10-8 lead with 2:28 to play.

"I was just swimming as hard as I could and all I heard was everyone yelling, 'Weak,'" Teraoka said. "I look up and just see the ball from Gunya. It was a perfect lead pass, all I had to do was catch, do my job and put it away."

"That was really good hands from Brent because it was kind of backwards, we mostly have right handers out there, so we normally bring it down the right lane," Rosa added. "Gunya made a nice pass and Brent had some good hands to be able to get that across his face and into the goal."

Gunya and Tanner Shore finished with two assists, two steals and a goal apiece, while Gunya added two field blocks. Balance was crucial for the Lancers early on, as their first eight goals came from different players. They also scored two goals in the waning seconds of the first or second quarters to take control early.

"Those are so important to get momentum and knock the other team off balance," Teraoka said. "Those are really important goals because they can't do anything to answer back right away."

CBU distanced itself from Santa Clara with a 5-3 run in the second quarter. Momentum started in the first period, though, when Caleb Rogers tied the game at 2-2 with a goal coming at the 2:24 mark. Four seconds before the horn, Thomas Henline gave the Lancers the lead again – after Jonathan Lotero opened up the scoring – on a counterattack goal coming off Moorman's assist.

Gunya scored 47 seconds into the second quarter off a Shore pass for the first multi-goal lead of the game, 4-2. When the Broncos fought back to a 4-4 tie, Shore provided an answer, with an unassisted, skip-shot score 3:27 before the half. Gunya then set up a two-meter lob goal from Ryan Sargis 37 seconds later to up the lead to 6-4.

Two goals in the final 1:29 of the half staked the Lancers to their 8-5 advantage. Teraoka scored first on a Shore assist and then he assisted on a Teddy Forte goal with six seconds left in the half.

Now, CBU shifts its focus to eighth-ranked UC Davis for a semifinal rematch from 2015. The Lancers shocked the Aggies by taking a three-goal lead in the game before dropping the contest, 14-13.

"They've been the best team in the conference this season, and we are here to win the conference championship, so we can't dodge people," Rosa said. "Hopefully we can jump on them again and hold on."

"We got rid of the jitters today," Teraoka said. "We've just got to clean up our play, make sure we stay calm and make sure we play the game we know we can. We've had good semifinal games in the past, but we are about to put together a great one for tomorrow."

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