Stags advance, squeak out opening round win over La Verne in SCIAC Championships

ORANGE, Calif. - The second-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team defeated No. 7 La Verne 16-14 on the first day of the SCIAC Men's Water Polo Championships on Friday afternoon at the Allred Aquatics Center. With the win, CMS earned the right to face No. 3 Redlands on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the first of two SCIAC Championships semifinal matches. CMS and Redlands played earlier in the season with CMS winning 10-9 at home.

Against La Verne, a goal by junior utility Mark Nietzel gave CMS a 2-1 lead at the 5:53 mark of the first quarter and CMS would lead throughout the match. Despite leading throughout the match, La Verne kept the game close throughout, never letting CMS extend its lead to more than four scores and that didn't come until the fourth quarter. 

Senior attacker John Holland had a team-high five scores, including three goals in the decisive fourth quarter. Senior Maarten Lefor added four scores for CMS. Bryan Jimenez led La Verne with five goals.

For updated SCIAC Championships information, please visit the tournament page at http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/mwaterpolo/tournament/index.