Men's Water Polo Falls to Cal Lutheran and Occidental

Photo by Shane Kittman
Photo by Shane Kittman

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Austin College men's water polo team opened up its weekend swing through California with losses to Cal Lutheran on Thursday and Occidental on Friday, bringing the team's overall record to 0-11 on the year. The 'Roos fell 14-6 to Cal Lutheran and 17-12 against Occidental.

The 'Roos fell behind 3-0 after one quarter against Cal Lutheran before trimming it to a 3-2 game on goals by Kyle Brown and Evan Cueva, and a goal by Max Wade kept things close at halftime with Austin College trailing just 5-3. Nathan Butler scored to keep it a two goal margin at 6-4 in the third, but Cal Lutheran scored three in a row to push it to a 9-4 game heading into the fourth. The margin would grow to 14-4 in the fourth, with Austin College getting two more tallies from Wade to make it a 14-6 final.

On Friday against Occidental, the 'Roos led 2-1 after the first quarter thanks to goals from Andrew Pope and Cade Griffith, but the Tigers out-scored Austin College 4-2 in the second quarter to head into halftime leading 5-4. Both teams came out hot offensively in the third quarter, with each side scoring five goals in the period but Occidental pulled away in the fourth, out-scoring the 'Roos 7-3 to make it a 17-12 final. Griffith led the 'Roos with three goals, while Cueva and Connor Watson each netted two. Pope, Butler, Michael Colmenares, Brett Skinner, and Nico Masso all found the net once for Austin College. Zachary Griffith made seven saves in goal.