Leos Beat Caltech in 2nd Round of SCIAC Tournament

The University of La Verne men's water polo team is hosting the SCIAC Tournament this weekend, November 11th-13th. Yesterday they battled the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen in the first round of the tournament, where lost in a 11-7 final. Today they defeated the Caltech Beavers 19-12 to send them into a battle for fifth place against Whittier College tomorrow.

In the match against Caltech, teams were tied at two in the first quarter before La Verne pulled ahead to take an 8-4 lead heading into the second. The Leopards went on a three-goal run before Caltech answered back. After two quarters of play, La Verne would up with a 14-6 advantage.

The Beavers would be the first to score in the third quarter and would net three goals, while holding the Leos to just two. In the final quarter both teams would score three goals apiece leading to a La Verne victory.

Kyle Thorsness and Andrew MacKay led the Leos with three goals, while four other La Verne players recorded two goals each.

In Friday's match, Cal Lutheran used a key 3-0 spurt to earn a hard-fought 11-7 win over La Verne in the final match of the day.  The first quarter was a defensive standoff as each team struggled to find the net resulting in a 1-1 standoff.  Tied at 3-3 in the second stanza, the Kingsmen scored twice to take a 5-3 lead, eventually taking a 6-4 advantage at the break. 

Cal Lu stretched their lead to 8-4 before consecutive goals from Arturo Villalpando sliced the CLU deficit to 8-6 midway through the third.  Kyle Thorsness again brought the Leos within two with a goal at the one-minute mark of the third but the Kingsmen maintained at least a two-goal margin in the fourth quarter.  Thorsness netted three goals for the Leos in the loss.

La Verne will be taking on the Whittier Poets tomorrow to battle for fifth place. The match will begin at 11:45am.