Ethan Lewis Reaches 100-Goal Milestone as CMS Men's Water Polo Wins at Redlands

REDLANDS, Calif. – Senior defender Ethan Lewis scored five goals, reaching the 100-goal milestone in the second half before finishing the day with 103, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team captured a tight 11-10 road win over Redlands on Saturday morning at the Thompson Aquatic Center.

With the win, CMS now stands at 12-8 overall and 7-1 in the SCIAC, picking up its fifth straight win (all in league games, four of which have been on the road), while Redlands moves to 11-11 overall and 4-4 in conference play.

Lewis came into the game with 98 career goals, and scored his second at the 5:58 mark of the third quarter to put CMS in front 6-5. After Redlands tied it, Lewis scored again on a 6-on-5 off a feed from sophomore Will Clark for a hat trick and career goal No. 101 to put CMS ahead 7-6 with 4:56 left in the third.  He then tacked on his fourth, off another feed from Clark, to give CMS the first two-goal lead for either team at 8-6 with 1:59 showing on the third-quarter clock.

Redlands closed out the third with two goals, sandwiched around a goal from first-year Noah Weldon, to make it a 9-8 CMS lead heading into the fourth. Junior Christian Thornton scored his second goal of the contest with 5:14 left off a feed from first-year Kyle Ballack to make it a 10-8 lead with 5:14 to play, before Lewis netted his fifth to give CMS its largest lead at 11-8 with 4:46 to go.

Redlands converted a penalty shot with 2:39 left, but sophomore goalie Noah Smith and Thornton each had steals on the next two Bulldog possessions to keep it a two-goal margin. Smith then made his 11th save on a 6-on-5 with just under a minute left to help seal it, as the Bulldogs scored with just six seconds left to make the final score 11-10.

The teams were tied 4-4 at the half, and both teams scored on their first possession of the second half. After Kyle Jackson gave Redlands the lead 17 seconds in, sophomore Will Clark scored off a feed from junior Nick Britt to knot it up at 5-5 just 23 seconds later.

A low-scoring first quarter saw the two teams knotted up at a goal apiece. Redlands broke the scoreless deadlock with 2:22 left on a goal from Carter Kerwin, but Zack Rossman knotted it up with 42 seconds on the clock on a five-meter shot.

The second quarter saw Redlands answer Stag goals three times to keep the game deadlocked 4-4 going into the break. CMS took its first lead as Lewis scored off an assist from Clark with 5:24 showing on the clock. After Redlands matched, Rossman gave CMS the lead back at 3-2 off an assist from sophomore Sam Harrison. The Bulldogs once again tied it, but junior Christian Thornton scored from Ballack to give the Stags a 4-3 advantage with 29 seconds left. Redlands then drew an exclusion and scored on a 6-on-5 with three seconds left to knot the game up 4-4 going into the break.

Clark finished with one goal and four assists for the Stags, while Rossman and Thornton each had two goals in support of Lewis. Sophomore Noah Smith had 11 saves for CMS to get the win in goal.

CMS returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to La Verne for a 4 p.m. contest. The Stags will then have four home matches in a row, beginning with a Saturday contest with Chapman at 11 a.m.