Stags Water Polo Completes 4-0 Weekend With Wins Over Austin, CSU Fullerton

Fullerton, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team took a 20-5 win over Austin in its first game of the day at the CSU Fullerton Invitational, and then defeated the host Titans 13-6 in the nightcap on Saturday afternoon.

With the two wins, CMS improves to 7-4 on the season, including a 4-0 performance at the CSU Fullerton Invitational, with wins over Air Force (10-8) and Biola (16-11) on Friday. Both Air Force and CSU Fullerton came into the weekend receiving votes in the national poll from the Collegiate Water Polo Association. 

In the Austin win, eight different Stags had multi-goal games, led by hat tricks from Nick Kennedy and Hassen Hove. Kennedy also had a three-goal game in the 10-8 win over Air Force, as well as two in the Biola victory. Jeffrey Koretz, Cristian Pang, Gavin Netherton, Luke (Bear) Weigle, Donovan Davidson and Len Korol each had two goals in the win as well, while Pang, Ashwin Rhodes and Kyle Ballack each had two assists. 

CMS led 6-1 at the end of the first quarter and 11-4 at the half, and then held the Roos to just one goal after intermission to pull away for the dominant win. Aidan Nettekoven had seven saves in the second half, while allowing just the one goal, while Jake Taylor had four saves to get the win. 

In the nightcap, CMS roared out to a 6-0 lead at the start of the second quarter to stun the hosts, with six different players finding the net. Weigle, Pang and Ballack scored on the first three CMS possessions, while Koretz and William Thomas closed out the first quarter scoring. Jack Bryant started the second quarter scoring before the Titans finally got on the board. 

CMS led 8-3 at the half, and Pang scored three times after intermission to keep the Titans at bay, finishing with four goals, while Weigle added three and Ballack had two. Kennedy had a big day passing with six assists for the Stags, while Nettekoven had six saves in goal. 

The Stags return to action on Wednesday night for a road game at Chapman to open SCIAC play before hosting the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament on Friday and Saturday, featuring a rematch with CSU Fullerton, as well as matches with Pacific, Wagner and Pepperdine.