Early lead holds against Chapman; Stags advance to SCIAC final

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team held onto their initial lead to beat Chapman 10-7 in the semi-final of the SCIAC Championships to propel them into the rubber match. On Sunday, the Stags face Whittier for the SCIAC title at 2:15 p.m. Redlands' Thomson Aquatic Center.

The Stags were explosive in the first quarter, scoring four goals and holding the Panthers scoreless. Junior attacker Daniel Cogan (CMC) came off the bench with an excellent performance in the game and tallied two of CMS' goals in the first quarter.

After a well chosen timeout by head coach Greg Lonzo, the Stags continued their scoring run with a goal by junior attacker Tanner Cullen (CMC) to go up 5-0 early in the second quarter. CMS maintained their lead allowing only two goals by Chapman in the entire first half.

The Panthers rattled off three unanswered goals to begin the third quarter, narrowing the score to 6-5, still in CMS' favor. To counter, the Stags went on a 3-1 run to finish the game. CMS scored on three consecutive drives midway through the fourth quarter with goals by Cogan, Cullen and senior utility Mark Nietzel (CMC).

Cogan totaled four goals on the day, a team high, followed by Nietzel with three.

Senior goalie James Kelly (CMC) had another outstanding performance accruing 15 saves over the 32 minutes.

The championship match between CMS and Whittier promises to be rife with great competition. The last time the teams met, on Nov. 7, the game went into overtime and the Stags came up short by one goal for their only SCIAC loss of the season.

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