FRESNO, Calif. – An incredible defensive performance was not enough for California Baptist University to overcome Air Force in the first round of the Western Water Polo Association Championships.
Tanner Shore matched the 11
th-ranked Lancers' single-game record with 10 steals in the contest, while
Tommy Lotero added 12 saves. The fifth-seeded Falcons still found a way to score one goal too many in a 6-5 victory over CBU at the Clovis West Olympic Aquatics Center on Friday.
CBU's record moves to 22-11 this season and Air Force improves to 9-16. The fourth-seed Lancers will play in the WWPA fifth-place game Saturday at 10:15 a.m. against sixth-seed and 17
th-ranked Santa Clara.
It became evident in the first quarter that CBU and Air Force were in for a defensive battle. The Falcons scored first about five minutes into the game, but an offensive foul led to the Lancers tying the game with two seconds left in the first quarter.
Matt Diacono made the extra pass in transition to set up
Joseph Galgani for the goal.
Air Force went up again about two minutes into the second quarter, but consecutive goals from Logan (two steals) Mena and Shore gave CBU its first lead, 3-2, with 46 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Falcons went on a 3-0 run from there to lead 5-3 at the 5:56 mark of the third quarter. The Lancers pulled within a goal twice on a goal from
Dominick Nevarez with 1:13 left in the third and
Zach Lowery (three steals) with 2:10 left in regulation.
There were several opportunities for CBU to tie the game in the waning minutes, but Air Force continued to come up with the stops it needed for the one-goal win.
Shore's 10 steals were not only an NCAA-era record for a single game, but was just the second time any Lancer has had that many takeaways in a contest. CBU Hall of Famer Aaron Steiger was the only other Lancer to do it back in a game versus Fresno Pacific on Sept. 7, 2007.
