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Water polo shines in Convergence

The Leopards faced the University of Redlands Bulldogs in their conference opener on Wednesday and lost in a tight match, 9-8. Brady Kocher (#8) attempts a shot on Redlands' Tim McNoney (#5), while the Leopards' Tom Merryman and Stephen Smith (#11) battle defensively. The Leopards will face Pomona-Pitzer in their second conference game tomorrow at 11 a.m. Last weekend, the Leopards amassed a 3-1 record in the Claremont Convergence. / photo by Jason Cooper
The Leopards faced the University of Redlands Bulldogs in their conference opener on Wednesday and lost in a tight match, 9-8. Brady Kocher (#8) attempts a shot on Redlands’ Tim McNoney (#5), while the Leopards’ Tom Merryman and Stephen Smith (#11) battle defensively. The Leopards will face Pomona-Pitzer in their second conference game tomorrow at 11 a.m. Last weekend, the Leopards amassed a 3-1 record in the Claremont Convergence. / photo by Jason Cooper

by Ryan Mac Donald
Staff Writer

Ranking in the top 20 teams in the national polls is an accomplishment that is usually reserved for well-established teams. However, the University of La Verne’s men’s water polo team has defied this stereotype by breaking into the national scene in only its third year of existence. By defeating numerous Division I teams and continuing to demonstrate a type of play that is consistently better than their opposition, the Leopards are quickly becoming the team to beat.

Entering the Claremont Convergence Tournament on Oct. 14, the Leopards, who are ranked first in Division III and 16th in the nation, were favored to win their four games. And with strong showings in every match, the Leopards improved their record to 9-5, losing only to 12th-ranked St. Francis University.

“It was getting teams together from all over the country to play each other,” said head coach Tim Hugar. “And overall I am pleased with the way we played; I thought we played very well in two games and in two games we didn’t play that well.”

In their first game against Brown University, the Leopards slowly edged ahead of the Bears through each quarter before finally winning the match, 7-4.

Early in the first quarter, the Leopards’ Alan Shumway scored on the team’s first possession after a time out was called with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Also assisting in the Leopards’ domination of the first quarter was a strong defensive performance from goalie John Steifling with seven saves.

With 3:45 left in the first half, Tom Merryman put up the second goal of the game by scoring into the corner of the goal, extending the Leopards’ lead to 2-0.

Directly following the Leopards’ second goal, Brown drew a four-meter shot off La Verne’s Fred Sicard, providing the Bear’s first score of the game.

Closing out the first quarter, La Verne’s Alan Shumway scored his second goal of the game, putting the Leopards ahead, 3-1.

The Bears battled back in the third quarter with strong offensive plays from Doug Kezieian, Tyler Korte and Jamie Litten each contributing with one goal. But with two minutes left in the third quarter, the Leopards began a scoring rally that allowed them to ride to their first victory.

“Brown was OK, but we came out kind of slow,” said goalie Gage Fisher. “We let ourselves play down to their level, but we started to pick it up at the end of the game.”

In their next match, the Leopards battled through four quarters against 12th-ranked St. Francis College. This contest was decided on a last second referee call, in which the Terriers drew a four-meter shot, giving them the victory, 10-9.

“One call never decides a game,” said Hugar. “They got out on the counter attack, and then we let them dictate the pace of the game in the last half.”

Fisher said, “We played a really good game, and we only lost to them by one point. They are almost a top 10 team [in the national rankings] and we played to their game point for point.”

The third game, against Iona College, provided the Leopards with a tight match. Both teams went goal for goal in the last two minutes, sending the game into two three-minute overtimes.

The Leopards, however, were victorious when Iona’s Brent Regan drew a four-meter shot for the Leopards, and La Verne’s Steve Smith made the shot, giving the Leopards their second victory of the tournament, 10-9.

Closing out the tournament against, Chaminade University, the Leopards easily dominated every aspect of the match.

“Against Chaminade we came out strong and took care of business,” said Fisher.

Brady Kocher, Tom Merryman and Fred Sicard all had multiple goals, giving the Leopards their easy victory, 14-7.

“We came out planning on pressing the team.” said Hugar. “I thought we played very well [against Chaminade].”

On Wednesday the Leopards traveled to the University of Redlands to face the Bulldogs (9-6) in their first conference game. The Leopards were facing the returning conference champions, and after battling through four quarters of tight competition, the Leopards fell short, 9-8.

“They are defending conference champions, and we are in their pool,” said Hugar.

Playing strong through the first half, the Leopards were lead by juniors Brady Kocher and Alan Shumway with two goals apiece. At the end of the first half, the Bulldogs held tight defense to allow a tie, 4-4.

Matching each other goal for goal, the Leopards and the Bulldogs kept the game tight through the end of the third quarter, before the Bulldogs took a 9-6 lead.

Coming back with two strong goals, the Leopards threatened to send the game into overtime, but with 30 seconds remaining the Leopards lost their last chance to score.

Losing their first conference match, the Leopards look to improve on their 9-5 overall record and 0-1 conference record when they play host to Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Ryan MacDonald, Editor in Chief
Ryan Mac Donald
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Jason Cooper, Staff Photographer
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