California Lutheran University’s men’s water polo team came up short against the Occidental Tigers with a score of 9-6 on Wednesday, Oct. 11 in the team’s third consecutive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss.
“Obviously, the score wasn’t how we hoped. We came in with high hopes and an expectation. I thought we had some good plays and some bad plays, but overall, I think we can step up in how we play as a team,” senior attacker Justin Boals said.
The Tigers led the game from the start as they went 2-0 up in the first quarter. Although the Kingsmen responded in the second quarter by scoring four goals, Occidental’s offense scored in the final seconds of the quarter to take a one-goal lead by the halfway point.
In the second half of the game, the Tigers’ offense continued to dominate, adding four more goals to their tally as opposed to the Kingsmen’s two to take the win over the defending SCIAC Tournament champions.
According to Boals, the team’s energy worked well coming into the game, and he said the Kingsmen did a “fairly good job in that department.” However, senior attacker Adam Dow said the Kingsmen are usually very team-oriented and lost focus on this aspect of their game against Occidental.
Nonetheless, Dow acknowledged what the Kingsmen did well.
“We had a set plan like who we were going to let score. We did a good job, we put them at 9 goals, and in a water polo game that’s key to keep it under 10 goals,” Dow said.
Junior utility player Lincoln Hall said the Kingsmen work on staying positive, even when they are behind.
“The most important factor in maintaining consistent results is being resilient no matter what. Being down by five or seven doesn’t matter, we always have to have the attitude that we will win,” Hall said.
Despite losing three SCIAC games in a row, Dow said the team is motivated going forward into the season.
“We’re not playing to where we know we can so we’re fired up and we are working super hard at practice and I hope that the SCIAC teams are ready for us,” Dow said.
Up next for the Kingsmen is the University of Redlands, who they lost to in the Division III Collegiate Water Polo National Championship last year.
“Probably the biggest game of the season we are playing, against Redlands. The last time we played them was the national championship and they definitely were trying to beat us and show us that they are better,” Dow said.
Boals said he is looking forward to a win against Redlands, and expects the Kingsmen not to get rattled by the loss against Occidental.
“We’re going to hit Redlands hard. The last time we played them was national championships and we have a chip on our shoulder,” Boals said.
The Kingsmen water polo team will face Redlands on Saturday, Oct. 14 away from home.
