CBU Goes Perfect on Opening Day of the Gary Troyer Tournament

Friday, October 2

Pomona, CA

2 PM

California Baptist University

Pomona-Pitzer

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
California Baptist	0	6	2	2	10
Pomona-Pitzer	3	0	2	0	5

Tournament Central

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Air Force	2	2	1	3	8
California Baptist	2	3	7	3	15

Photo by: Ryley Collom

CBU Goes Perfect on Opening Day of the Gary Troyer Tournament

10/2/2026 8:14:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Ryley Collom, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications & Digital Media

POMONA, CA--- The California Baptist University men's water polo team kicked off the Gary Troyer Tournament on Friday with a pair of victories over Pomona-Pitzer and Air Force to get themselves back in the win column. CBU improves to 17-4 overall, including an impressive 10-2 mark at neutral venues.

G1 at Pomona-Pitzer:

The first match of the day for the Lancers would be against the third-ranked team in DIII and the host of the Gary Troyer Tournament, the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens.

The home team would score the opening three goals of the match as the Lancers struggled mightily for eight minutes to generate offense. The Lancers would finally get on the board on the opening possession of the second period and would score in succession to make it a one-goal game. CBU would shut out the Sagehens in the second period while finding six total goals in the frame to double up Pomona-Pitzer at the half at 6-3.

The run would expand to 8-0 before the Sagehens would finally stop the bleeding with 3:08 left in the third. Pomona-Pitzer would tack on another goal on a penalty shot, but the damage was too severe to make a comeback as the Lancers would close out the Sagehens 10-5 for the victory.

Andrea Nuzzo would score the hat trick while Rafa Martinex would score a pair of goals to lead the way for the Lancer offense. Michael Abshier was excellent on the distribution end of things with five assists, while Tyler Carson stopped seven shots in goal for the Lancers.

G2 vs Air Force:

The final match of the day would be a familiar one as they would square off against an old WCC foe, the Air Force Falcons. Wyatt Bugbee would score the opening two goals of the game for the Lancers for the early advantage, but three straight Air Force Goals would put the Lancers at an early deficit. CBU would score three of the final four goals of the half to take a slim 5-4 advantage at the break.

CBU flipped the switch in the third period as they would score the opening four goals of the frame to blow open the match and extend their lead to five goals. Air Force would break the scoring run up with a goal at 5:41, but CBU would score three more to end the period to produce its largest lead of the game up to that point at 12-5. The Falcons played the Lancers even in the fourth period, resulting in a 15-8 victory for the Lancers and a 2-0 day at the Gary Troyer Tournament.

Paulo Hernandez was phenomenal for the Lancers with four goals on five shots, while Wyatt Bugbee would produce a hat trick. Alessandro Tiberio scored twice off the bench for Kevin Rosa's team while Michael Abshier would dish out three more assists to bring his total to eight on the day. In net, Tanner McCreary was excellent with five saves, including a penalty stop, while only allowing eight goals to the Falcons.

NEXT: The Lancers will be in the pool in Pomona tomorrow to finalize the Gary Troyer Tournament against Chapman and Biola.