Eight Nevarez Goals Guide CBU to Victory

Saturday, September 8

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 AM

California Baptist University

Princeton

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

Eight Nevarez Goals Guide CBU to Victory

9/8/2018 5:51:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

PRINCETON, N.J. – An eight-goal game from Dominick Nevarez led California Baptist University to a 17-16 overtime win versus St. Francis at the Princeton Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

The 16^th-ranked Lancers had built up a ton of momentum with a strong finish in an 11-9 loss to 13^th-ranked Princeton – a game that was streamed on ESPN+ – earlier on Saturday and had plenty of gas left in the tank for the win over the Terriers.

CBU ends week two of the season with a 4-4 record, while Princeton improves to 5-1 and St. Francis drops to 0-8. The Lancers will head to UC Davis' Aggie Shootout next week where CBU will face George Washington and Pacific on Friday, and then face Whittier and San Jose State on Saturday. It will be the second week in a row CBU will face 18^th-ranked George Washington, which pulled off an 8-7 win over the Lancers on Friday.

Those eight goals from Nevarez set a new NCAA-era, single-game record for CBU. It was just the third time a Lancer has scored eight or more goals in a game. Peter Hines holds the single-game record of nine, which came against Gannon on Oct. 14, 2011. Andre Pedroni also scored eight goals versus Whittier on Sept. 18, 1999.

Logan Mena scored four goals on the Terriers and was responsible for sending the game to overtime. St. Francis took a 14-13 lead with 2:55 left in regulation, but Mena tied the game back at 14-14 with 41 seconds left to force an extra six minutes.

St. Francis scored first in overtime, but Nevarez tied the game at 15-15 with 39 seconds left in the first extra session. Another goal from the Terriers put them up 16-15 heading into the final three-minute overtime period.

Both offenses were kept quiet until Nevarez scored with 40 seconds remaining for a 16-16 tie. Joseph Galgani would then end the game with a goal at the three-second mark for the 17-16 victory. It was Galgani's second goal of the contest, while Tanner Shore also added two goals in the game.

It was a close affair throughout, with neither side leading by more than three goals. CBU opened the game on a 3-1 run, thanks two goals from Mena and one from Nevarez. A goal from Galgani and Nevarez kept CBU in front by two, 5-3, but St. Francis made it a one-goal game going into the second quarter with a late score.

The Terriers would then take the largest lead of the game, 11-8, with 4:30 to play in the third quarter. A 4-1 run sparked by two Nevarez goals evened the score at 12-12 two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Earlier Saturday, CBU put together another great comeback on No. 13 Princeton. The 16^th-ranked Lancers finished the game on an 8-3 run but ultimately fell just short of the Tigers, 11-9.

Shore kept the Lancers in the contest with three goals, an assist and two steals, while Galgani scored twice and Mena drew seven exclusions from center. Gabe Thorne played big for CBU in the second half in the cage, giving up just three goals and making five saves over the final 16 minutes, while the Lancer defense forced Princeton to take desperate shots from the perimeter.

Princeton opened the game on a 3-0 run until Galgani got CBU on the board at the 3:23 mark of the first quarter. The Tigers continued to run their lead up to 8-1 with 2:51 left in the first half before the Lancers started their run.

Shore got things going when he took a pass from Riley Bumgardner and rifled in a goal from about seven meters out. Defense set up CBU's offense for its second goal in a row, as Shore ended Princeton's power play with a steal. Mena drew two ejections on the ensuing counter attack, and the ball worked its way back around to Shore for his second goal in a row on a nifty skip shot off the water, cross bar and in.

Six seconds before halftime, Hunter Barnett scored and then Galgani made it five unanswered Lancer goals with the first score of the second half to cut the deficit down to 8-5. Princeton broke its 7:55 scoreless drought with 2:56 remaining in the third quarter, but Shore picked up his hat trick to keep it a three-goal game going into the fourth, 9-6.

CBU made it a two-goal game, 9-7, for the first time since the first quarter on a goal from Mena. The junior center posted up, took the ball, turned and muscled home a goal between two swarming defenders with 5:28 to play.

The Tigers answered right back 28 seconds later, but a penalty and converted five-meter goal from Zach Lowery kept it a two-goal game at the 4:44 mark. Princeton took a valuable 11-8 lead about 30 seconds later, but a great pass from Bumgardner and finish from Christian Britton made it 11-9 with 2:44 left in regulation.

The Lancers got the stops on defense they needed to stay in the game, but their shots at tying the game in the final minutes were just off – with one from Galgani just sailing over the cage and another from Shore going off the post.