Lancers Impress in Joust Opener

Friday, September 29

Riverside, Calif.

12:00 PM

California Baptist University

USC

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

Lancers Impress in Joust Opener

9/29/2017 6:59:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A strong showing against the second-ranked team in the nation and a one-goal win over a top-10 NCAA Division III squad made up day one of the 2017 Lancer Joust for California Baptist University on Friday.

CBU put together one of its finest showings of all time against USC, which is ranked second in the entire NCAA, in a 16-6 loss. The 15^th-ranked Lancers then faced Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for the second time in three weeks in their final game of the day and defeated the sixth-ranked Stags of D-III 8-7 on two fourth-quarter goals from Joseph Galgani.

It brought the Lancers' record to 9-6 this season, with four games left to play on Saturday against Fresno Pacific, Citrus, Redlands and Occidental at 10 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 4 p.m. and 5:20 p.m., respectively. USC improved to 15-1 and CMS moved to 4-7 on the year.

Coach Kevin Rosa saw his team come ready to compete against the highly-touted Trojans. The Lancers managed to take a lead when Dominick Nevarez turned his defender and scored from up close and personal just 29 seconds into the game.

USC scored the next two goals, but CBU responded with a Ryan Sargis goal off a Tanner Shore assist and a Kyle Rasmussen score off a Royce Daniel Laverne pass, knotting the score at 3-3 with 1:49 left in the first quarter. The Trojans managed to take a 6-3 lead into the second quarter, but Nevarez would score one more time, while Shore and Caleb Rogers would also score before the game was over. Gabe Thorne also posted 10 saves in 26 minutes in the cage for CBU.

"We were ready to play, having USC out to our home pool, we wanted to make sure they felt like they get their money's worth," Rosa said. "It was consistent from start to finish, we worked hard and tried to do everything we've been practicing."

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps scored first, but Rogers answered on a Shore assist to tie things at 1-1 and Christian's first goal made it 2-2 about a minute into the second quarter. CBU scored three times in a row, thanks to two Christian goals and one from Sargis for a 4-2 lead with 3:49 left in the first half. The Stags forced two more ties at 4-4 and 5-5, but consecutive goals from Henline put the Lancers on top 6-4 with 7:06 left in the third quarter.

The game was tied at 6-6 and 7-7 in the fourth quarter. Galgani broke the first tie with 5:12 to play on a goal from a Kyle Johnson pass. When the Stags evened things again at 7-7 with 4:55 remaining, Galgani came through again with 2:39 left in regulation.

"It was exciting to see that for [Galgani]," Rosa said. "He said earlier in the day he wanted to be involved more, and he went out there and got involved. He had three shots and two goals in the fourth quarter. It was his opportunity and he made good things happen."

Defensively, the Lancers made sure there was nothing more and shut out CMS for their third one-goal win of the season. Shore led the defense with five steals, along with three assists, while Matt Miller had seven saves and two steals in the cage for CBU.

"We knew that was going to be one we were going to have to grind," Rosa said. "It was nice to not panic, be in the fourth quarter in a one-goal game and win it. It's good to win one-goal games, those will pay off later in the season."

Kyle Christian sparked the offense with a game-high two goals and two assists, despite playing with two exclusions in the game. The Lancers also had to overcome their leading goal scorer, Jonny Lotero, playing with two ejections for most of the contest.

Along with Galgani, Thomas Henline shouldered the burden with two goals in the game, while Sargis and Rogers also scored in the win.

"Offensively, we weren't in the best flow," Rosa said. "It didn't come easy, so we hard to work and grind for everything and other guys stepped up."