by Jason Cooper
Staff Writer
The men’s water polo team had a split weekend last Friday and Saturday, taking one out of the two games it played. A defeat was the result ULV encountered after playing Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, losing 10-6 at home. The following day La Verne traveled to Occidental to play the Tigers, where they were victorious in a close game, 12-11.
La Verne’s play against CMS lacked an important element in the first half-scoring. The Leopards were held scoreless through two periods and goalie Mike Miles, with 10 saves supported by fair defensive play, kept them close going into the half, down 4-0.
“We click very well,” said senior Corey Rodriguez. “But we lacked some pre-game focus and when we get scored on we go on mental tangents.”
La Verne’s tangents came back to the center and in a direct line to the Stags’ net as the Leopards found the back of the net six times in the next two periods.
Their efforts proved not enough as CMS outscored the Leopards 4-3 in the final quarter despite, a two-point goal by Fred Sicard.
“It is a disappointment but that is how our season has kind of gone,” said sophomore Rey Lopez.
Looking for a win before the conference playoffs, La Verne traveled to Occidental and achieved such a result.
The hard fought match began with a quick goal by the Leopards that proved to be a building block for the game. They would score three in the second period and five in the third. This was due in part to strong offensive play by Sicard, who had five goals, and Rick Harvey, who added three goals for ULV.
Defensively La Verne was not as sharp and Occidental scored 11 times. In the fourth period the Tigers threatened to pull out the victory, outscoring the Leopards 6-3.
“We need to eliminate the one-and-a-half periods of not so great polo,” said Rodriguez.
Some tough saves by Miles and an offensive burst helped La Verne stay on top, and they won 12-11.
The Leopards travel to Caltech this weekend for the SCIAC tournament.
“We play strong polo,” said Rodriguez, “and we have every capability to win this.”
