Kingsmen Stay Undefeated in SCIAC Play; Take Down VC

Posted: Sep 23, 2017

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Inside the Samuelson Aquatics Center on a gorgeous Saturday, the Cal Lutheran men's water polo team took two, defeating La Verne, 16-12, in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) morning match before downing Ventura College 19-9 in the afternoon of a split doubleheader.

Against the Leopards this morning, the Kingsmen jumped out to a quick 5-1 first period lead and never looked back en route to their second straight SCIAC victory. Although La Verne chipped away to get within a pair on several occasions, the Violet and Gold pulled away in the final frame. The momentum shifted as Chris Gardhouse converted his second five-meter goal of the game, which was followed by a lob shot from Mats Albins moments later to push the gap to 13-9 with 6:46 remaining in regulation.

While Gardhouse again led the team in scoring, with four, Davy Thomas continued on his recent offensive tear, adding three goals to match teammate Zach Zamecki with hat-tricks. George French also added a pair while scoring from Albins, Stephen Blaauw, Matt Fong and Thomas Randles, with his first career goal, rounded out the offensive output. Albins, Gardhouse and Zamecki each handed out two assists apiece and Gardhouse drew a team-leading four ejections with Thomas finishing with three. Kevin Oetken also had two drawn ejections for the Violet and Gold against LV.

Nick Loomis manned the goal, turning away eight shots to finish with as many saves while adding a pair of steals as did Fong, Gardhouse, Oetkin and Justin English.

In the afternoon, CLU dove back in against the Pirates from Ventura College. The Pirates got on the board first, but it was the Kingsmen that had the lead at the end of the first quarter 5-3. Seth Hightower and Blauww both scored two goals in the first frame.

CLU added to the lead in the second quarter and were up 10-4 at halftime. The Kingsmen used that momentum to control the second half and defeated Ventura 19-9.

Cal Lutheran's Hightower led the Kingsmen with four goals. Blauww and Parker Jory added three goals apiece for hat-tricks. Wyatt Lowe, George Lundgren and Zamecki each contributed two goals. Andre Laserna, Ramon Olivier V and Randles each chipped in one goal.

The Violet and Gold worked very well as a team to score the 19 goals. Jack Kirby had pin-point passing and tallied three assists while Laserna added two more. Eight more Kingsmen had one assist.

CLU used three goalies over the stretch of the game as Andre Rivas, Jonathan Salandi and Jake Venckus each saw time in front of the net. Venckus and Rivas each made five saves and Salandi had four.

Cal Lutheran (4-5, 2-0 SCIAC) hosts Redlands at home on Wednesday, Sept. 27 in a SCIAC contest at the Samuelson Aquatics Center with first print set for 4:00 p.m.