CJ Box scored three goals for the Stags (photo by Tessa Guerra)
CJ Box scored three goals for the Stags (photo by Tessa Guerra)

CMS Men's Water Polo Wins Fourth Straight, Defeats Caltech 15-11

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Will Clark and CJ Box each had hat tricks as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team won its fourth game in a row, defeating Caltech 15-11 on the road on Saturday evening.

With the win, the Stags move to 11-9 overall and 6-3 in the SCIAC, solidifying its hold on one of the top four spots in the league standings, which receive bids to the SCIAC Tournament. Caltech, which used a late 5-0 run to make the final score look a bit closer, slips to 1-10 overall and 0-8 in the SCIAC. 

CMS led 6-2 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as seven in the first half before settling for a 12-6 lead at the break. The Stags extended the lead to 14-6 midway through the third, before Caltech rattled off five goals in a row to close to 14-11 in the final minute, before CMS ended the scoring on a Harry Rinker goal. 

Box had two of his goals in the opening 2:17, sandwiched around one from Clark, to make it a 3-0 CMS lead early on. Ben Weldon and Rob Driscoll added first-quarter goals, and Clark scored his second with 47 seconds left. Len Korol and Andrew Wraith started off the second quarter with goals to make it 8-2, and Sam Harrison had back-to-back goals to push the lead to 10-3. Gavin Rosser had the final two goals of the half for CMS, which took a 12-6 lead into halftime. 

Box and Clark finished off their hat tricks in the opening minutes of the third quarter to make it a 14-6 game, before Caltech made some late headway to make the final 15-11. 

Noah Smith had 12 saves for CMS in goal, while Wraith had a team-high three assists and Driscoll and Eli Schwarz each added two. 

CMS will be back in action on Wednesday night for a key home game against Occidental at 7 p.m., which is in fifth place, one spot behind CMS in the battle for the final SCIAC Tournament bid.