Nicole Knight
Staff Writer
The University of La Verne men’s water polo team returned home 1-4 in the University of California Santa Cruz 2004 Slugfest Tournament held Sept. 25 and 26 in Santa Cruz.
La Verne endured a rigorous schedule at the tournament with four games against the highly competitive schools of UC San Diego, UC Davis, Santa Clara University, and UC Santa Cruz.
ULV lost a hard-fought battle Sunday against UC Davis, 10-5, during its last game of the Slugfest. The Leopards gained the lead at halftime, 5-4, over the Aggies. ULV struggled to maintain its momentum as UCD fought back, 4-0, in the third quarter. Senior driver Owen Barrett and junior utility Will Broer led the Leopards with two goals each against UC Davis. Freshman goalkeeper Steven Straiger put forth another great effort, guarding the ULV goal with nine saves.
UC Davis freshman goalkeeper Mike McGee totaled six saves for the entire game.
“Even though the middle games were a struggle, our team played up to their potential against UC Davis. The scoreboard did not reflect how we played,” assistant coach Alex La said.
The second day of competition in Santa Cruz provided more challenging matches for the Leopards. La Verne lost to Santa Clara University, 12-7, in its morning game on Sunday. Broer led the Leopards with three goals, followed by freshman utility Anthony Hernandez with two goals against Santa Clara. Straiger protected the Leopard’s goal with nine saves.
Despite their morning success, the Leopards suffered a harsh defeat from UCSD, 22-3, in their second game on Saturday. Freshman utility Seth Shelton, freshman two meter specialist Duncan Cox and Broer each scored one goal for the Leopards.
San Diego junior driver Chris Eichholz scored four goals against ULV with added efforts by junior utility Chris Finegold and freshman driver Curtis Williamson with three goals each on the Leopards.
“We came out flat playing against UC San Diego, not playing our best water polo,” Barrett said.
The Leopards started the tournament on the right foot defeating UC Santa Cruz, 10-4, on the first day of competition. Broer led the Leopards with three goals, along with Barrett, who had two goals against Santa Cruz. Steve Straiger also saved 12 shots for the Leopards.
The win proved even more victorious for ULV, because of UC Santa Cruz’s No. 1 ranking in Division III.
“It was a great start to the tournament defeating Division III rivals UC Santa Cruz, especially by such a large margin,” La said.
“We really put Santa Cruz on their backs; we played great defense and kept the ball moving on offense,” Barrett said.
“Big tournaments, like the UC Santa Cruz Slugfest, will help our team improve for Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships,” head coach Tim Hugar said.
The team swam away from the 2004 Slugfest with valuable experience from playing highly competitive teams.
“The team learned that we always have to play with intensity and we did not compete to our potential in our middle games,” La said.
“We played tough teams and it was good experience, especially for the younger players,” Barrett said.
Nicole Knight can be reached at stareknight17@charter.net.
