Stags Water Polo Moves to 10-0 in SCIAC with 22-5 Win over Occidental

EAGLE ROCK, Calif. - Nick Kennedy, Cristian Pang, Hassen Hove and Luke (Bear) Weigle each had hat tricks as the top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team rolled to a 22-5 win over Occidental on Saturday in a road SCIAC contest.

With the win, CMS now stands at 19-6 on the year and 10-0 in the SCIAC, maintaining its hold on first place in the SCIAC as Redlands defeated Pomona-Pitzer 15-13 in a battle of the two second place teams. CMS travels to Redlands on Saturday in what will likely be a winner-take-all battle for the top seed in the SCIAC Tournament. 

Kennedy added four assists for a team-high seven points, while Pang had two assists. Harry Rinker, Kyle Ballack and Gavin Rosser each had two-goal games, while Auggie Aliaga, Gavin Netherton, Stryker Scales and Len Korol added goals as well.  Aidan Nettekoven had eight saves and allowed just two goals for the Stags. 

After Ballack and Rosser staked CMS to a 2-0 lead, Occidental got back to within 2-1 before the Stags rattled off 17 goals in a row before the Tigers scored again with eight seconds left in the third. Kennedy, Weigle and Korol scored in the first quarter to put CMS 5-1 heading into the second, and Pang and Hove each had two goals in a 7-0 second quarter that made it 12-1 going into the break. 

Kennedy struck twice early in the third around a Weigle goal, and Pang capped off the 17-0 run with a goal with 34 seconds left in the third. 

CMS will play its final regular season home game on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against Chapman before the big road matchup with Redlands next Saturday. The Stags are guaranteed to host a home SCIAC Semifinal on Friday, Nov. 19, with the championship game taking place on Sunday, Nov. 21.