CMS Men's Water Polo Moves to 3-0 in SCIAC with Road Win at Cal Lutheran

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team outscored Cal Lutheran 5-0 in the third quarter to break open a close contest and went on to capture a 13-8 win over the Kingsmen on Wednesday afternoon in a SCIAC match at Samuelson Aquatics Center.

With the win, the Stags improve to 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in the SCIAC after opening up league play with a 13-11 win over Chapman and a 6-4 win at Redlands. The decisive run was 7-0 for the Stags, spanning the second and fourth quarters, as they scored the final goal of the second quarter and the first goal of the fourth to turn a 4-4 tie into an 11-4 lead. 

CMS led 5-4 at the break, as freshman attack William Clark (pictured) broke a 4-4 tie with the final goal of the first half. Clark then scored his third of the match for a hat trick in the first minute of the second half and give CMS a 6-4 lead. Just 32 seconds later, junior attack Zack Rossman scored his second goal to extend the margin to 7-4 with 6:42 left in the third. 

The run continued, as Rossman fed sophomore Nick Britt for an even-strength goal soon after freshman goalie Noah Smith had a save on a Cal Lutheran 6-on-5, making the score 8-4. Rossman picked up his second assist on the second goal from sophomore attack Robert Driscoll to stretch it to 9-4 with 3:36 left in the third, and sophomore attack Barron Banta finished off the scoring in the third off an Eric Warmoth feed to give CMS a 10-4 advantage heading into the fourth. Junior defender Ethan Lewis tacked on another goal to start the fourth quarter to make the score 11-4 and stretch the run to seven straight goals, before the Kingsmen answered to finally stop their drought. 

Cal Lutheran managed to string together three straight goals to close to within 11-7, but senior Matt Daruty scored on a pair of 6-on-5 chances to thwart any thoughts of a comeback.

CMS never trailed as sophomore center CJ Box and Driscoll scored in the opening minutes to stake the Stags to a 2-0 lead. Cal Lutheran came back to tie the score 3-3 in the third, but Clark answered twice to put CMS back in front 4-3 and 5-4 heading into the break. 

The Stags return to action on Saturday when they host Whittier for an 11 a.m. contest at Axelrood Pool. Whittier is currently ranked No. 2 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, while the Stags hold down the No. 4 spot.