CLAREMONT, Calif. (Nov. 14, 2010) – The Occidental College
men's water polo team concluded their 2010 campaign with a
2-1 weekend at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference Tournament hosted at Pomona-Pitzer. On day one the
Tigers fell 15-8 to eventual tournament champion
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, but rebounded with 21-8 and 9-8 victories
over Caltech and the University of La Verne on Saturday and Sunday,
respectively.
On opening day, a trio of Tigers scored multiple goals against
the Stags, but turnovers hurt the squad as they lost possession 17
times.
Greg Benz and Tai McDermott
each recorded a hat trick with Brendan Whitmore
scoring the final two Oxy goals in the game. Joe
Reynolds was responsible for four of the six assists. The
Black and Orange were able to convert four man-up situations in the
game. Kevin Coleman drew a team-high three
ejections.
Reynolds also led the defensive unit with three steals while
Richard Dybas came away with a pair of steals.
McDermott recorded the only field block of the game for the Tigers.
Scott Churchman recorded 14 blocks in front of the
cage.
Day two pitted the Tigers against the Beavers. Ten different
players found the back of the net with Coleman's four goals
leading the charge. Whitmore, Kenji Hammon and
Malcolm Clayton each netted three while McDermott
and Christian Erwin scored a pair apiece. Senior
Josh Kantor handed out four assists, scoring
once.
Oxy was successful on both of their 6-on-5 opportunities in the
game.
Kantor came up with four steals and four players had field
blocks. Churchman, who had two steals, and Kyle
Reuther, who had two assists, split time in front of the
goal, turning away three and two shots, respectively.
On Sunday Oxy walked away with a one-goal, 9-8, victory over the
Leopards in the season finale. Benz, McDermott and Reynolds led the
offensive attack with two goals each. Benz drew three ejections to
lead the squad and McDermott tallied two.
In his final collegiate game, Kantor led the Tigers with three
steals, adding a goal, drawing two ejections. Benz went out with
two goals and a steal.
Churchman tallied 14 saves to help preserve the victory.
While Occidental (9-19, 5-5SCIAC) placed fifth at the
tournament, they fell to sixth in the overall SCIAC standings as a
result of the combination of points from dual games coupled with
those from this past weekend. CMS won the weekend tournament, but
the University of Redlands was named the SCIAC Champions in
2010.
Article by Tracy Maple,, Sports Information
Director
