CMS Men's Water Polo Defeats Whittier 15-11 on Senior Day

CLAREMONT, Calif. – Luke (Bear) Weigle scored five goals and Thomas Walker had four goals and two assists as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team celebrated Senior Day with a 15-11 win over Whittier in a key SCIAC matchup at Axelrood Pool on Wednesday evening.

Seniors Kyle Ballack, Nick Maramica, Ben Weldon, and Noah Weldon were honored before the game and the Stags went on to capture a win that improved them to 6-3 in the league, securing at least one home game in next week's SCIAC Tournament. The Stags can finish no lower than fourth, with the opening round being held on Wednesday at the third and fourth seeds.

CMS did have to hold off a late Whittier charge, as the Stags took an 11-4 lead on a Gavin Rosser goal with 5:22 left in the third. Walker made it a 12-6 game with 3:12 left in the third, but the Poets went on a 4-0 run over the third and fourth quarters to close to within 12-10 with 6:26 left.

Cristian Pang, though, was able to stop the momentum on a goal off a Walker pass with 4:48 left. The two then combined on a goal the other way around, with Walker scoring off a Pang feed with 3:12 left. Weigle then scored his fifth to end the CMS scoring with 1:06 left, before Whittier scored the final goal of the game.

Pang finished with two goals and three assists, Rosser had two goals and two assists, and Eli Schwarz had a goal and two assists. Jake Taylor went the distance in goal and had nine saves.

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it closes out the regular season with a road game at Pomona-Pitzer, before competing in the SCIAC Tournament next week.