CLAREMONT, Calif. — It took four periods, two overtime periods and two sudden death periods for California Lutheran University men's water polo and Claremont-M-S to decide a victor, and it was the Kingsmen outlasting the Stags as Ben Brown scored a golden goal to give his team a 12-11 win on Wednesday afternoon.
In one of the most thrilling games you will ever see, the No. 2 team in the Nation, Cal Lutheran, defeated the No. 4 team in the nation at its house.
The Kingsmen stay undefeated at 4-0 in conference play and are 8-1 on the year.
The game went back and forth with high's and low's for each team. The Kingsmen took the lead in the first quarter, but the Stags answered in the second. That trend continued for the second half.
The Stags went up early in overtime and then scored another goal in the second overtime period. The Purple and Gold answered with a goal and then scored the equalizer with 29 seconds left.
The game went to sudden death and neither team scored in the first period. Brown converted in the second sudden death period to finally end it.
Brown and Justin Krause led the way for the Purple and Gold, scoring four goals each. The duo both added three assists and three steals to pace their squad.
Dillon Goldsmith scored a hat trick, scoring on of the goals in overtime, and Cole Weiderman tallied three drawn ejections.
Andre Rivas got the win in the cage as he totaled 18 saves, including three big saves in the sudden death periods.
The Kingsmen are back in the water this weekend at they travel to Pomona-Pitzer, Claremont-M-S and Occidental for the Gary Troyer Tournament. Cal Lutheran starts the tournament on Friday at 11:30 a.m. with Fordham.
Box score: CLU 12, CMS 11
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director