by Ryan Mac Donald
Staff Writer
photographs by Liz Lucsko
On Nov. 16, 2000, it was just another day in paradise in Honolulu, Hawaii. The skies were partly cloudy with scattered showers, and the temperature remained consistently in the mid-80s.
At 6:31 p.m. at Hawaii International Airport, United Airlines Flight 55 arriving from Los Angeles landed into this tropical kingdom, and emerging from gate six were the 14 members of the University of La Verne men’s water polo team.
This vacation, however, presented different objectives than most would expect.
They were not here to work on their tans, or to sightsee, or to sip umbrella cocktails on the beaches of Waikiki like most visitors of the Hawaiian Islands. They were here to compete and, hopefully, to be victorious in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) tournament.
This weekend would test their ability to play water polo against the best teams in the western region, and the winner would earn a place to compete in the NCAA Championships this weekend.
Representing eight universities from three states, the WWPA tournament included teams from top-seeded UC San Diego, No. 2 Loyola Marymount University, No. 4 United States Air Force Academy, No. 5 UC Davis, No. 6 University of Redlands, No. 7 UC Santa Cruz and No. 8 Chaminade University (host).
Beginning the tournament with first-round action against the University of Redlands, the Leopards were victorious, as they easily defeated the Bulldogs 8-6.
With oppressive defensive efforts throughout each quarter, the Leopards were able to stop all of the Bulldogs’ offensive threats and by taking advantage of numerous man-up opportunities, they never lost the lead.
“We were able to shut down their game plan,” said Kenny Clements, a senior driver. “We played solid with more steals, blocks and shots [on goal].”
Head coach Tim Hugar added, “our defense was strong. We had a couple of breakdowns, near the end, but it was fairly strong.”
This victory marked an 11-game winning streak for the Leopards and a third win over the Bulldogs this season in four matches.
Junior Alan Shumway, Clements and senior Ian Gratz opened up a 3-0 lead in the first three minutes of the first quarter with a series of strong offensive surges. Twenty seconds into the game, Shumway had a breakaway and lobbed the ball into the cage to score the first goal of the game. Clements scored one minute later off a pass from Stephen Smith. Gratz finished off the offensive run, when he easily scored over a weak defense.
“We came out strong and got our momentum up,” said Shumway.
Redlands’ Kevin Rosa responded by scoring the first of the Bulldogs’ goals. With 45 seconds left in the first quarter, Clements was called on a four-meter penalty, giving Rosa a free shot on goal. With three seconds left, driver Tim McNaney scored over Shumway to bring the Bulldogs within one goal at the end of the first quarter.
Redlands’ Justin Ball was first to score in the second quarter after both teams did not allow any offensive breakaways. With 2:42 left in the quarter, Ball recovered his own shot off the goal post to score, tying the game at 3.
Tom Merryman countered with strong defense to steal the ball. He then passed to Sean Smith, who lobbed the ball over the goalie to give the Leopards a one-goal advantage with 1:21 left in the first half.
“We had strong counter attacks,” said team captain Fred Sicard, “and we fought through them [Redlands].”
After halftime, the Leopards fired up their intensity in the third quarter, outscoring their opponent 3-1.
Immediately converting the first man up opportunity of the quarter, Gratz scored his second goal of the game off a pass from Smith, putting the Leopards up 5-3. On the next possession, Clements battled from underwater to score past two defenders, extending the lead to 6-3.
After a Bulldogs’ time-out at 4:50 in the third quarter, the Leopards continued to dictate the pace of the game by converting on a second man-up opportunity. Shumway scored his second goal of the game, lengthening the lead to 7-3.
“We wanted to be in that position of being up by several goals. It is better for us,” he said.
On the Bulldogs next possession, Adam Foley scored off a bank shot, after the Leopards’ Sean Smith was ejected. Foley scored the Bulldog’s only goal in the third quarter.
The Leopards closed out the fourth quarter with one more goal, as the Bulldogs made a late effort, scoring two more goals. However, they fell short by two goals.
“Overall, in the end of the game, we weren’t that intelligent,” said Hugar. “We just forced things.”
With a victory in the first round of the tournament, the Leopards moved into the championship semifinal match against the second seeded Loyola Marymount Lions.
One day later, the Leopards began their bout against the Lions, and in a battle that would determine who would play for the championship, the Leopards lost an extremely physical match, 8-4.
“It is always brutal when we play against Loyola,” said Sicard.
The Lions ended the Leopards winning streak after the two teams were locked in a defensive struggle through three-quarters. They eventually edged out to a 5-3 lead and then never allowed the Leopards to catch up, winning the game 8-4.
Early in the first quarter, Clements attempted a shot but was blocked by goalie Colin Robinson. With a new 35 second shot clock, Shumway scored from five-meters out off a pass from Sean Smith, giving the Leopards an early 1-0 lead.
With strong team defense, the Leopards held the Lions with no goals through most of the first quarter, but after John Steifling saved two back-to-back shots, Aaron Eisberg scored into the corner of the goal with 1:42 left in the quarter, tying the game at one.
The Lions took advantage of their first six-on-five opportunity after Gratz got ejected, and two-meter man Kyle Witt scored to go ahead by one. Brother Kevin Witt scored on an identical play, after Sean Smith was ejected. With 2:35 left in the second quarter, the Lions were up 3-1.
“We were a little bit slow, and we missed some opportunities that took our spirits away,” said Hugar.
Closing out the first half with another goal, the Lions’ Andrew Jensen scored when he recovered the ball after it bounced off the goal cage, putting the Lions up 4-1.
On their first possession of the third quarter, the Leopards converted a man-up opportunity to score their second goal of the game. Merryman recovered the ball after it banked off the goal post to score, bringing the score to 4-2. With Clements’ ejected at 5:42 left in the third, the Lions called a timeout and then came back to score their fifth goal of the match.
“They took away some of our spirit,” said Hugar. “And we didn’t have the momentum to come back.”
Merryman scored his second goal of the game after another Lions’ ejection, pulling the Leopards within two. But into the fourth quarter, the Lions’ offense ignited as they went on a run that scored three more decisive goals, providing them with an unmatchable lead.
“We beat ourselves,” said Sicard. “We had plenty of opportunities, but we didn’t close on most of them.”
With a loss in the championship semifinal, the Leopards were placed into the third place match against the U.S. Air Force Academy, and in their final match of the season, the Leopards could not keep pace with the Falcons, losing in the final quarter 10-5.
ULV held the Falcons to one goal through three-quarters of play, but after the Falcons’ Chris Smith went on a three-goal scoring run early in the fourth quarter, the Leopards lost momentum and were unable to fight back, scoring only one goal in the final quarter.
Clements earned WWPA first team honors and driver Stephen Smith and goalie John Steifling received honorable mention honors for the tournament.
The Leopards finished the season with the team’s best record in history (20-8). For the season, the Leopards were ranked No. 19 in the nation and No. 1 in Division III schools.
Ryan Mac Donald
