CLAREMONT, Calif.— The Cal Lutheran men's water polo team went 3-1 at the two-day Gary Troyer Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Haldeman Pool. The Kingsmen took down Washington & Jefferson 18-9, Fordham 11-10 and McKendree 13-11, but lost to Fresno Pacific 10-9.
The tournament was hosted on the campuses of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer.
George Lundgren led the Kingsmen in scoring over the weekend. He scored at least two goals a game and totaled 11. Dillon Goldsmith was next with nine goals. Wyatt Lowe put up five goals, including four in one game. Ben Brown had four and Matt Fong, Stephen Blaauw and Parker Jory each had three. Brown totaled the most assists and had four on the weekend.
The defense was active and busy during the tournament. Fong had the most steals with seven and Brown was next with five. Justin English, Seth Hightower and Blaauw all had four.
The drawn ejections were separated with many players chipping in. Hans Cole and Fong tallied the most with five. English and Hightower were right behind them with four.
Andre Rivas, Jonathan Salandi and Kaleo Lee each spent time in goal. Rivas and Salandi both tallied 18 saves and Lee had three more.
In the first game against Fresno Pacific, Lundgren scored the first goal of the game. He answered an early goal from Fresno Pacific and tied the score at 1. After Fresno Pacific went up again, Tanner Kaplan tied the game with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
Cal Lutheran took its first lead in the second quarter as Lundgren scored one-minute in. The lead went back and forth as Fresno Pacific scored two goals back-to-back. English tied the game once more as he found the back of the net with 2:50 left in the half. Fresno Pacific scored one more goal before the half and had a 5-4 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Kingsmen scored on their first possession as Goldsmith converted on his shot. After a timeout, Lundgren completed his hat trick and tied the game at 6. Every time Fresno Pacific would score, Cal Lutheran had an answer. Kaplan notched his second with 3:01 left in the quarter. CLU then took the lead at the end of the third quarter as Jory scored.
Blaauw scored the only goal in the quarter for the Kingsmen. CLU was up 9-7 with 6:39 left in the game. Cal Lutheran couldn't hold onto the lead as Fresno Pacific came back and won the game 10-9.
Against Washington & Jefferson, the Kingsmen went down early 1-0. Lundgren and Jory scored on back-to-back possessions and Cal Lutheran took the lead. CLU kept the points coming as Lowe gave the Kingsmen a 3-1 lead with 6:06 left in the quarter. A few plays later, Jory made it 4-1. Lundgren added his second goal and CLU had a 5-1 first quarter lead. The Kingsmen made it six goals in the quarter as Lowe scored his second goal. At the end of the quarter, CLU was up 6-3.
The Kingsmen opened the game in the second quarter. Lowe, Goldsmith, Brown and Lundgren all found the back of the net and CLU was up 10-4 at the half. Cal Lutheran had an impressive outing in the first half and had a shooting percentage of .769.
Tommy Corey got the scoring going in the second half as he put in his first goal of the game. Kyle Crist added a goal a few plays later and Cal Lutheran was up 12-4 with 5:52 left in the third quarter. The trend of the third quarter was freshmen scoring and Justin Krause added to that as he found the back of the net. He added his second goal on the very next possession and CLU was up 14-5. The Kingsmen scored one more goal in the third as Corey scored his second goal. Cal Lutheran had a 15-7 lead heading into the fourth.
CLU scored first in the fourth and increased its lead as Angelo Devito got on the board. The Kingsmen then went up 10 as Taylor Garcia made it 17-7. After a few goals from Washington and Jefferson, Garcia added his second goal and CLU went up 18-9. That was all the scoring as Cal Lutheran took down Washington & Jefferson.
On day two, Cal Lutheran started with Fordham. CLU scored the first two goals as Lundgren and Goldsmith found the back of the net. Fordham responded with two of their own and tied the game. Goldsmith then added his second goal and Brown put in one and the Kingsmen were back up 4-2.
In the second quarter, Fordham answered yet again and the game was tied at four. Goldsmith recorded his hat trick, but then Fordham went on its own run and went up 6-5. With the clock running down in the half, Jory tied the game with two seconds left.
The Kingsmen took charge in the third quarter as Brown, Fong, Jory and Lundgren each scored a goal. It gave Cal Lutheran a 10-6 lead heading into the fourth. Goldsmith scored his fourth of the game and CLU was up 11-7. Fordham mounted a comeback, but it came up just short as Cal Lutheran won 11-10.
Cal Lutheran continued its tough stretch of close games as they took on McKendree in their final game at the Gary Troyer Tournament.
The game was tied at 2 after the first quarter with goals from Lundgren and Brown.
Cal Lutheran took control of the game in the second quarter and outscored McKendree 6-2 and took an 8-4 lead at the half. Goldsmith led the charge with three goals, all back-to-back-to-back. Fong added two more and Krause chipped in with one.
The Kingsmen used that momentum throughout the second half and took the game with a final score of 13-11. Cal Lutheran went 3-1 on the weekend.
Cal Lutheran carries a three-game win streak back into conference play. The Kingsmen stay on the road and go to Orange, Calif., to take on Chapman Wednesday at 4 p.m..
Box Score: FPU 10, CLU 9; CLU 18, WJ 9; CLU 13, MU 11; CLU 11, FU 10
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
