by Enrique Gutiérrez
Staff Writer
The last five weeks have been a hustle for the men’s water polo team of the University of La Verne.
After participating in various tournaments, it is time to face league play.
The Leopards enter Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition with a 2-12 record.
Head coach Tim Hugar said that the team has played mostly Division I opponents so far. He also said he has high hopes for this season.
“It’s always our goal to be the best we can and we want to win the conference,” he said.
“We have a strong team where everybody makes a contribution,” said Hugar. “This team seems to work together very well. It plays more as a team than as individuals.”
The team participated in the Convergence Tournament at the University of Redlands last weekend.
The squad finished its participation with a 1-3 record, losing to Loyola Marymount 12-2, Brown University 7-5 and host University of Redlands 13-12 in overtime.
It was the second loss to Redlands this season. They previously lost to the Bulldogs 16-7 in the UC San Diego Tournament.
The Leopards’ only victim was Boston College, whom they defeated 9-7.
Before their conference opener, Hugar commented on the Leopards’ expectations.
“It seems that Whittier, Redlands and Claremont are the three favorites,” Hugar said, “and we beat Whittier in overtime and we lost to Redlands in overtime so that means it’s going to be a pretty tight year.
“So I have a reason to believe that we have an excellent opportunity as long as we play our best water polo,” Hugar said.
The Leopards will have another chance to redeem themselves as they host Redlands on Wednesday at 4 p.m. However, before that happens La Verne has to travel to Claremont to play Pomona-Pitzer tomorrow morning at 11.
