CMS Men's Water Polo Takes Two Wins on First Day of Troyer

CLAREMONT, Calif. – Christian Thornton had hat tricks in both games and Noah Smith had a combined 27 saves as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team swept both games on the first day of the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament on Friday, defeating Navy 12-8 and Johns Hopkins 9-3.

With the win, the Stags improved their record to 6-7 on the year and bounce back from a tough sudden-death overtime defeat to Cal Lutheran just two days ago.

Thornton scored four goals in the Navy win and then added three more in the Johns Hopkins contest. Smith, meanwhile had 12 saves against Navy and then added 15 against Johns Hopkins, while allowing only three goals.

The Stags were tied 3-3 in the first period against Navy, but Thonrton and Will Clark scored two goals apiece to give CMS a 7-4 advantage at the half The Midshipmen responded with a 4-2 run of their own, capped by an Isaac Salinas goal to pull within one to end the third period, 8-9. 

However, the Stags played stellar defense to in the fourth, holding Navy scoreless while CJ Box, Thornton and Cristian Pang scored goals to put the game away at 12-8 to grab its first win of the day. 

CMS kept its momentum going in the nightcap, controlling the pace of the game from start to finish against Johns Hopkins. The Stags allowed only three goals through 32 minutes of play. CMS led 4-2 at the half, but went on to outscore Johns Hopkins 5-1 in the second half.  

Clark and Andrew Wraith combined for five assists, while Ben Weldon added two goals on the night. 

CMS will close out play at the Gary Troyer Tournament tomorrow, taking on Washington & Jefferson at 12:45 p.m. and Pepperdine at 4:30 p.m.