by Ryan MacDonald
Staff Writer
In a futile effort to continue climbing up the national rankings, the University of La Verne men’s water polo team fell short of victory on Wednesday, losing to Loyola Marymount University, 8-6.
The Leopards, who are ranked 16th in the national standings as of Oct. 11 and No. 1 in Division III, never controlled the tide of the game, and though they were only narrowly defeated by their 12th ranked opponents, they failed to offensively dominate the game.
“I don’t think we played well,” said head coach Tim Hugar. “We played flat, and we were not reacting. We were shooting off of our backs.”
Remaining one point behind the Lions throughout the first quarter, the Leopards failed to capitalize on numerous offensive opportunities that would have allowed them to go ahead by several goals. Ending the first quarter with a score of 2-2, the Leopards still managed to match the efforts of their competitors.
“I know we were faster and better than them, but we weren’t playing like it,” said junior Rey Lopez. “We should have swam around them, but we weren’t into it. We could have done it, but we didn’t.”
The Leopards quickly lost their offensive and defensive edges in the second period, falling behind the Lions 5-2. Though the Leopards made many shots on goal and received several breakaways, they never were able to close the play with a score.
Team captain Fred Sicard said, “We were not putting our shots and opportunities away.”
The Lions continued to dominate the waves of the game into the third quarter, scoring three more goals, and increasing their lead to 8-4. The Leopards continued to struggle offensively with placing their shots too aggressively and inconsistently.
“We didn’t want to shoot the ball,” said Hugar. “We were passive; we weren’t aggressive.”
In a fourth quarter attempt to comeback, the Leopards demonstrated a defensive style of play that restricted their opponent from extending their lead.
Offensively, they ignited their game plan and scored two more goals before the end of the second, bringing the Leopards within two goals.
Contributing to the Leopards offensive surge in the latter half of the game were players Tom Merryman, Sicard, Brady Kocher and Alan Shumway. These players led the team in getting back into the second half of play, and with these extra efforts the Leopards were provided with many offensive opportunities and two goals.
“Unfortunately, we came out kind of slow,” said Lopez. “So by the time it was time to play our best, it was already too late”
Team captain and starter Kenny Clements sat out of the game because of injury and his absence possibly effected the outcome of the game.
Also, Sicard, who had been out of the water for two weeks, returned to the game and though he contributed to the team’s effort, he was not as strong as he had anticipated.
“It was scary, and I didn’t really know what to think,” said Sicard. “With rehabilitation and only one practice in the last two weeks, it was mixed emotions [in the game tonight].”
“We went through the game without playing our best,” said Hugar. “We didn’t play with any heart.”
The Leopards travel to Claremont today for the Claremont Convergence to encounter their most important matches of the season. The first game starts at 1:30 p.m. against Brown.
