CMC75 Moments: 1992 Men's Water Polo Wins in OT for 11th Straight SCIAC Title

As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.

Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1992 Men's Water Polo: Stags 13, Redlands 12 (OT) – SCIAC Finals

The CMS men's water polo program had an exceptional run of success from 1982-92, winning 11 SCIAC titles with a league record of 110-0. There were some years it was pretty easy, with league opponents rarely even coming within five goals of the powerhouse Stags. By year 11, though, with the SCIAC win streak in triple digits and everyone giving CMS their best shot, it was anything but easy. The Stags opened league play with an 11-10 win over Whittier, and had a two-goal win over Oxy and a three-goal win over Redlands during the regular season.

After prevailing over Pomona-Pitzer in the SCIAC semis, the Stags took one final shot from an opponent trying to knock them off their throne, as Redlands pushed the championship match into overtime. The Stags dug down with their championship pedigree, though, and prevailed 13-12 in overtime to stretch their SCIAC title streak to 11, and their SCIAC win streak to 110 (Redlands would prevail the following season to end it at 111 in a row).

Chris Powell was named the SCIAC MVP and was joined on the first team by Murphy McCann and Robert Cheney, while Greg Gero was on the second team.

Erik Zech:

It was pretty special to be part of such a historic streak of wins. Definitely brought a close group of teammates and friends even closer. That was definitely an exciting bond that brought us together and allowed us to perform at even a higher level.

While I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday, I definitely have very fond memories of those seasons. While the streak was a lot of pressure it was also very exciting and fun. The game I probably remember more than any was the 100th win against Pomona (a 5-4 SCIAC Championship win in 1991), being down fairly late in the game and knowing that 100-0 t-shirts had already been printed up.

Murphy McCann:

Certainly the game with Redlands was tight.  They were definitely our best competition that year, with Witt (Tom Whittemore, CMC '86) as coach over there.  A nail-biter for the alums, but I was not worried.  I remember a scoring backhand from outside at the 1 post which was a baffler for them. Their old pool was pretty old-school, which made the score narrower than it should have been. I think one of the Gero brothers scored from up top.  I'm sure I smoked Jared on a couple of sprints.  Ronny (Powell) must have had a ton of goals that game. 

There was also a tournament at the Tennis Club senior year where we had some great games.  I remember a fun game with Brown. 

WWPA in Hawaii was a blast.  Maybe not for the loss against Davis, though that was a fun game against a pretty decent team.  

Robert Cheney:

For that championship game, I remember that sure there was anxiety to keep the streak alive but also a huge chunk of the crowd at the game was Stag water polo alums. We couldn't let those guys down.  I'm pretty sure they had even pre-made 110-0 t-shirts in advance - and I have one somewhere back in California.  Clearly they had confidence in us.

Chris Powell:

I agree with the others.  I don't recall being nervous.  Instead it was more of an annoyance.  We knew we had the better team, but they always made us fight for every inch regardless of being outmatched. They didn't have any players that particularly stood out, but (Coach Tom Whittemore) definitely had analyzed us all season long and had his team well coached on how to pick at us and keep it close. I remember getting triple-teamed numerous times and it was difficult to find the open man since they did a good job collapsing into the gaps.  Still, I think I managed to put nine in the back of the goal by the time it was all over. 

I do remember the double hand push off Zech to send the game into OT and the sweet shot from Greg G up top. We didn't play that well for the first four quarters, but once we got into overtime, it came together.  I think we outscored them 3-1 in OT (before a late goal) and didn't give them any reason to think they could win. In the end, the better team won. 

1992 Men's Water Polo Roster
Head Coach: Mike Sutton
Assistant Coach: Kirk Jones
David Allison (Jr., CMC)
Scott Andron (Fr., CMC)
Alex Armour (Jr., CMC)
Eric Bergman (Jr., CMC)
Gordon Bigler (Jr., CMC)
Robert Cheney (Jr., CMC)
Eric Furze (Fr., HMC)
Greg Gero (Jr., CMC)
Paul Gero (Jr., CMC)
Takeshi Kaneko (So., HMC)
Michael Kefalas (Fr., CMC)
Brandon Lee (Fr., CMC)
Jay McCabe (So., CMC)
Murphy McCann (Sr., CMC)
Matthew Norris (Fr., CMC)
Chris Powell (Sr., CMC)
Matt Skific (So., HMC)
Greg Tansey (Sr., CMC)
Jake Tilley (Fr., HMC)
Don Wellington (Fr., HMC)
Bill White (So., CMC)
Erik Zech (Sr., CMC)