By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications
COLORADO SPRINGS – Six-goal games from
PJ McDonough,
Hunter Barnett, and two more strong performances from goalie
Gabe Thorne highlighted California Baptist University men's water polo's doubleheader at Air Force on Saturday.
The ninth-ranked Falcons won the first game of the day, which was also the Western Water Polo Association contest, by one goal in overtime, 15-14. The seventh-ranked Lancers came back and spoiled Air Force's senior game for the second year in a row with a 17-12 win in Saturday's finale.
Air Force's win secured the top seed for the upcoming WWPA Tournament. CBU's victory snapped the Falcons' three-game winning streak, as Air Force moves to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in the WWPA, while CBU went to 3-3, 0-2.
McDonough went off for 11 points on the day, with six goals and an assist in the opener and two goals and two assists in the finale. Barnett matched McDonough with six goals in the final game.
It was just the ninth time in CBU's NCAA era (2013-present) that a Lancer has scored six goals against an opponent. It is just the sixth time over that span it has been done against a Division I opponent.
Both also served as career highs for the duo. McDonough had previously scored a personal best four times in four games. Barnett's previous best scoring performance was the six three-goal games in his career.
GAME ONE
McDonough scored his six goals in Saturday's opening 15-14 loss. Thorne also had 16 saves in the game, while the Lancers also got big contributions from several freshmen.
Air Force opened the game on a 5-2 run, but CBU fought back to tie the game at 8-8 going into the fourth quarter. The Lancers would take their first lead of the game with four minutes left in regulation on a goal from center from true freshman
Matt Olsen.
The Falcons managed to come back and force overtime and eventually win the game by one goal, 15-14.
True freshmen
Cameron Cullen (two assists) and
Caleb Teraoka (two goals, two drawn ejections) each had three points, while Olsen finished with two goals and a drawn ejection.
GAME TWO
Three Lancers went off for hat tricks in the finale. It helped turn what was a close game at halftime into a five-goal win. Barnett obviously led the way with his six goals, but
Zach Lowery added three goals, three assists, four steals, two sprints and a drawn ejection to his stat line in that one game.
Joseph Griffin scored three goals in the game for his first career hat trick, as well. McDonough (two goals, two assists) and Cullen (two goals) also put up four and three points, respectively, in the game.
It was a one-goal game about halfway through the third quarter when an Air Force goal made it 10-9 in favor of CBU. The Lancers went on to score four of the next five to jump up 14-10 with 4:17 to play. Lowery, Barnett, Cullen and Griffin all scored in the run.
CBU went on to score the final three goals of the game to pull away for good. Thorne turned in another quality game with nine saves and two steals.
UP NEXT
CBU and Air Force will play for a third time this weekend, with a single game on Sunday at 9 a.m. Pacific. The game will be streamed live on the
Falcons' Youtube channel and will be statted live on
The FOSH.
The Lancers will then return home for a four-game homestand to close out the regular season. It starts with a game against Pepperdine on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 2 p.m.
