CMS Men's Water Polo Prevails in Defensive Struggle with 6-4 Win at Redlands

REDLANDS, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team had a tight defensive battle in a SCIAC matchup with Redlands, but was able to lead wire-to-wire to come away with a 6-4 win at Thompson Aquatic Center on Saturday morning.

With the win, the Stags improve to 3-1 on the young season, and 2-0 in the SCIAC, after also taking a 13-11 home win over Chapman on Wednesday in its league opener. The only loss CMS has suffered so far this year has been to No. 1 USC. 

Junior Zack Rossman was the lone CMS player to have two goals on the day, while four others had one apiece. Matt Tran had 10 saves and allowed only four goals, although his counterpart, Chris Martinez of Redlands, helped keep his team in it with 17 saves, as the Stags held a 31-24 edge in shots, including 23-14 in shots on net. 

CMS held a 2-0 lead after the first quarter, as Rossman started things off with a goal at the 6:22 mark, and junior Ethan Lewis converted with 4:21 left in the frame to make it 2-0. Freshman William Clark tallied a goal in the second quarter with 3:29 on the clock to push the lead to 3-0, and after Redlands scored its first of the contest, senior Matt Daruty closed out the first half scoring with a goal to give the Stags a 4-1 lead heading into the break. 

Sophomore Robert Driscoll kept the CMS run going at the start of the second half when he scored 45 seconds into the third quarter to give CMS a four-goal lead. Redlands got one of the goals back, but Rossman scored his second with 2:25 left to put the Stags up 6-2. 

CMS held a 13-6 lead against Chapman in the fourth quarter on Wednesday and withstood a late, but relatively harmless run from Chapman over the final five minutes to take the match 13-11. The Redlands script was similar, albeit lower-scoring, as the Bulldogs scored both fourth-quarter goals. the second coming with 55 seconds left to close the gap to 6-4, but the outcome was not in doubt in the closing moments as CMS held on for the 6-4 win. 

Driscoll had a goal and an assist for CMS, while freshman Sam Harrison added an assist and tied for the team lead with two steals, along with Lewis and Rossman. Martinez had four steals to go along with his 17 saves for Redlands.

The Stags will next be in action when they travel to Cal Lutheran on Wednesday for a 4 p.m. contest, looking to move to 3-0 in the SCIAC.