LV earns berth in regional tourney

by Chrissy Zehrbach
Assistant Editor

The University of La Verne men's water polo team earned a second-place finish in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship tournament last weekend by defeating Cal Tech and Whittier, but suffered a loss to Redlands in the championship game.

The Leopards entered the tournament seeded second.

By Sunday, ULV had advanced to the most anticipated game of the weekend-the SCIAC tournament championship game against defending champions and No. 1 seed Redlands.

The Bulldogs defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 10-4 to get to the final round.

"It feels great," head coach Tim Hugar said about advancing to the championships. "What we've been working for all year is to put ourselves into this position."

The La Verne-Redlands rivalry stood at 1-1 for the season. The Leopards defeated the Bulldogs early in preseason 4-3 on Sept. 8 in San Diego.

Then, during conference action on Oct. 30, Redlands handed La Verne it's only SCIAC loss of the year as the Leopards were upset 5-7.

After introductions Sunday, the Leopards took to the water, looking for their first SCIAC title since 2000.

Rough combat and tough defense allowed both teams only one goal in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs then controlled the second, shutting out the Leopards for the remainder of the half and scoring three goals of their own to bring the score to 1-4.

Junior Robert Casillas scored on an assist from junior Jason Walters early in the third quarter to bring the score closer at 2-4.

Intensity picked up at the end of the fourth. With 2:24 remaining, Walters took off on a breakaway, scoring a goal that brought the Leopards within one of Redlands.

Redlands responded with less than a minute remaining in the game. Spencer Dinnean took a shot with his back to the goal, catching freshman Leopard goalie Ian Thorburn off-guard

Fourteen seconds later, sophomore Mike Saldana sank another goal for the Leopards, turning and shooting with a defender clung onto him, once again, bringing La Verne within one.

But the Leopards would not get another opportunity to score as the clock wound down, leaving the final score 4-5.

"We just didn't score a few we needed to score," Hugar said.

Senior Alex La, Casillas, Walters and Saldana each scored one goal in the championship game, and Thorburn recorded eight saves.

"The game could've gone either way," Thorburn said. "Redlands is a good team, but honestly I think we're better. It was definitely one of their best games, one of our best too. Sometimes things just fall that way."

On Saturday afternoon, the Leopards played Whittier, who defeated Occidental 14-6 in the morning.

In SCIAC play this season on Oct. 26, ULV beat the Poets, 9-6.

In Saturday's game, two of Whittier's nine ejections came in the first quarter. But the Leopards could not capitalize on the six-on-five advantage. Effective defense from both teams held the score at zero until there were only 24 seconds remaining on the clock when Whittier's Brendan Maun took a skip shot that skidded under the arms of Thorburn.

ULV bounced back and dominated the second quarter, scoring five goals and holding the Poets scoreless, ending the half at 5-1.

The third quarter saw less action from the Leopards, gaining only a solo goal from Saldana, while the Poets put two more on the board.

The Leopards came out fighting in the fourth, scoring four more goals and increasing their lead to a final score of 10-5.

Hugar said that it was hard to say why some periods were more intense than others.

"We had our game plan and stuck with it. [We] executed what we wanted to do real well," he said.

Saturday morning, ULV started off the tournament with a bang against Cal Tech. ULV routed the Beavers, 16-4.

Scoring was a team effort in the game. Seven Leopards contributed goals to the win. Casillas led in scoring with six goals. Sophomore Owen Barrett scored three, junior Jon Schmidt and Saldana each had two, while Walters, La and freshman Jared Carvitto contributed one goal apiece.

"We were a little sloppy at first but were able to control the game like we wanted," Hugar said.

Walters led in scoring for the game with three goals. Casillas and Saldana each had two. Barrett, La and senior Jason Kidwell each contributed one.

"We played well," Thorburn said. "Everyone played strong."

The Leopards finished second in the tournament, as well as second in SCIAC for the second year in a row.

"I'm proud of the guys," Hugar said. "They fought hard and played with everything they had."

This weekend the Leopards will compete in the Western Water Polo Association Tournament hosted by UC San Diego.

Competition will include top teams from the western region. ULV is one of only two Division III teams selected to compete; the other is Redlands.

With a 7-2 SCIAC record, 18-8 overall, the Leopards retain their No. 2 ranking this week in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Division III National Collegiate Top 10 Poll.

Five Leopards were also honored for their strong performances throughout the season. Casillas was named SCIAC Most Valuable Player, Thorburn and Walters were named First Team All-SCIAC, and La and Kidwell were named Second Team All-SCIAC.