CBU Jousts Way to 4-0 Day

Saturday, September 30

Riverside, Calif.

10:00 AM

California Baptist University

Fresno Pacific

Photo by: Conner Schuh

CBU Jousts Way to 4-0 Day

9/30/2017 1:33:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – With its longest homestand of the season coming to an end, California Baptist University took advantage of some home cooking and piled on four wins Saturday.

CBU defeated Fresno Pacific (15-2), Citrus (19-11), Redlands (13-11) and Occidental (20-8) to improve to 13-6 this season and go 7-2 in its nine-game homestand that spanned the last 10 days. The 15^th-ranked Lancers remained undefeated against unranked opposition, while FPU dropped to 2-8, Citrus to 15-2, Redlands 3-11 and Occidental to 0-13.

"It was a lot of water polo, that's for sure, with seven games in three days," Coach Kevin Rosa said. "There were some up and downs, but we got better, made adjustments and did some good things. Everybody got a lot of minutes, and that was really the purpose of this tournament, get everyone in there to help us improve."

Overall, Joseph Galgani had a team-high 18 points in seven games this week, with 12 goals, six assists, four steals and four drawn exclusions. Tanner Shore also had 17 points on 14 assists, three goals, 15 steals and five drawn ejections in five games, while Dominick Nevarez (nine assists, seven goals) and Christian Britton (11 assists, five goals, six steals) both had 16 points in five games.

After playing seven games in three days, the Lancers get six days off from gameplay before taking to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Gary Troyer Tournament. They will face Fordham and McKendree on Friday at 9:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m., respectively, and conclude with San Jose State and La Salle Saturday at 9:15 a.m. and 6 p.m. respective times.

In the second matchup in three days between the two, CBU put on an even more impressive display in a 15-2 route of Western Water Polo Association-foe Fresno Pacific to start things on Saturday. The Lancers were locked in from the very beginning and scored the first six goals of the game, with five different goal scorers in on the run.

Gabe Thorne logged a season-high 18 saves and two assists in the cage for CBU, and once the Sunbirds finally broke through 11-and-a-half minutes into the game, they were held scoreless over the next 16 minutes, 49 seconds. The Lancers scored eight times in that span, while going deep into their bench during the comfortable victory.

Jonny Lotero scored a hat trick in the game, but Nevarez had a game-high five points with four assists and a goal. Senior captain Thomas Henline also picked up two goals, while Kyle Christian, Shore (two steals), Britton and Galgani finished with a goal and assist in the contest.

"There was a lot of energy this week," Nevarez said. "We had a lot of subbing patterns that we went through, and the chemistry is definitely getting there. This weekend, we are starting to see people play really well together."

CBU rested its starters in the next game with Citrus College. Centers Matt Diacono and Logan Mena and Galgani led the charge, with four goals each. Diacono and Galgani both had an assist, while Mena drew four ejections. Royce Daniel Laverne and Britton both put up an identical five points, as well, with four assists and a goal each.

True freshmen PJ McDonough (two goals, two assists) and Zach Lowery (one goal, two assists, two steals) impressed, as well, with four and three points, respectively. JP Syfacunda logged six saves and three steals in 16 minutes in goal, while Matt Miller had eight saves in the second half.

Citrus managed to keep the game tied at 7-7 at halftime, but the Lancers' second unit started to click in the third quarter and won it on a 5-1 run. Britton, Kyle Rasmussen and McDonough gave CBU three-straight goals and a 10-7 lead. Mena then scored two-straight after an Owls' goal for a 12-8 lead going into the fourth quarter.

"It was great to see those younger guys come in and play well," Nevarez said. "They are not only going to play a big part later in their careers, but later this season. It's good they are getting that exposure and it's good for us to see where we need to get better and develop."

Redlands gave CBU the biggest test of the day, but the Lancers never trailed in the game. The Bulldogs did manage to tie the game at 7-7 and 9-9 late in the game, though.

Twenty-two seconds later, Henline fired home a goal off a Nevarez assist to give CBU a 10-9 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Lancers took a big two-goal lead to open the fourth quarter after the Bulldogs won the opening sprint but then committed an offensive foul to give CBU the ball. Lotero converted the extra opportunity on an assist from Shore, making it 11-9 CBU with 7:15 remaining.

Following a Redlands goal, Lotero scored his fourth of the game to keep it a two-goal cushion with 5:09 remaining. The Bulldogs made it a one-possession game again, but Royce Daniel Laverne helped secure the result with a clutch goal on Rogers' cross-pool pass to cap the scoring at the 2:58 mark.

There were 12 CBU assists in the game, with Shore posting five along with six steals, Rogers adding three and Britton and Nevarez chipping in two each. Christian, Henline and Nevarez all scored two goals in the game, while Miller played big in the cage, with 13 saves and a steal.

CBU played its B team in the finale with Occidental, and several put up big games. Britton led the effort with eight points on five assists and three goals, while Laverne (three goals, three assists) and Lowery (four goals, two assists) both had six points. Galgani added five more on three goals and two assists and Mena contributed two goals, two assists and three drawn ejections.

The Lancers opened the game on a 5-1 run, with Galgani scoring twice in the first quarter. The Tigers clawed back within 6-3, but Lowery, Laverne and Mena scored three-straight to make it 9-3 CBU with more than three minutes left in the first half. Occidental would not come closer than five goals the rest of the way.