By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications
DAVIS – California Baptist University men's water polo embarked upon what figures to be its toughest week of the season, with four games against top-10 ranked opponents, on Friday.
The Lancers opened Western Water Polo Association play and the Aggie Roundup against defending conference champion and sixth-ranked UC Davis and No. 2 UCLA at the Schaal Aquatics Center.
CBU first battled back from a four-goal deficit but fell just short against the Aggies on an 11-9 score, and then fell to the second-ranked UCLA Bruins, 17-8. The Lancers move to 6-4 on the year and 0-1 in WWPA competition, while UCLA remains undefeated at 8-0 and UCC improves to 5-1, 1-0.
The 16
th-ranked Lancers trailed UC Davis by as many as four, 10-6, with 7:35 to play but ended the game on a 3-1 run. California Baptist scored three-straight goals to pull within one, 10-9, with 3:09 to play but the Aggies drew exclusions on their next two possessions – and scored on one of them, which allowed them to bleed the clock and secure the win.
Cameron Cullen,
Caleb Teraoka and
Toby Bumgardner all scored two goals each in the loss, while
Angel Sanchez had three assists to tie Cullen for a team-high in points.
Matt Olsen and Bumgardner also drew three and two ejections, respectively.
In the final game of the day, de Wit had a team-high three points – all on assists. Sanchez (goal, assist); Escoto (two assists); Bumgardner (two goals);
Logan Puhl (goal, assist) and
Toring Stanley (goal, assist) all had two points against the Bruins.
UP NEXT
The Lancers close out the Aggie Roundup with games against No. 10 San Jose State and fifth-ranked Pacific on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 8 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.
CBU will then make its much-awaited home debut on Thursday, Sept. 22 with a doubleheader against Biola and Concordia. The Lancers will play Biola in a WWPA tilt at noon, while the Concordia game will be a non-conference affair at 6 p.m.
