Chapman ties school wins mark in Saturday split

ORANGE, Calif. - Down by a goal late in the first half, the Chapman University men's water polo team scored six consecutive goals to take a commanding lead en route to a 13-9 victory over visiting U.C. Santa Cruz Saturday morning at Allred Olympic Pool. With the win, the Panthers won their 14th game of the season tying the Chapman record for victories which was originally set in 2001. Chapman (14-11) then dropped the second game of its Saturday doubleheader, 16-8 to visiting Cal Baptist.

Game 1: Chapman 13, U.C. Santa Cruz 9
Santa Cruz (6-14) led 4-3 with just under two minutes remaining in the first half until junior utility Alex Mulé scored two quick goals before the half to give the Panthers a 5-4 lead. Chapman scored the first four goals of the second half on goals by Mulé and freshman utility Pierre Masson to take a 9-4 lead. The Panthers led by a score of 11-5 in the fourth quarter before Santa Cruz rallied with three consecutive goals by senior utility Nick Devries narrowing the Panthers lead to 11-8 but that would be as close as they could get as the Panthers held on for the 13-9 win. Chapman had lost three in a row prior to Saturday morning's game. The Banana Slugs have lost 13 straight.

UCSC Goals: Devries (4), Fischl (2), Gettlefinger, Morton, Zepeda
CU Goals: Mulé (8), Masson (4), Ediger

UCSC Goalie Blocks: N/A
CU Goalie Blocks: Gasper (9)

Game 2: Cal Baptist 16, Chapman 8
A big second half by Cal Baptist (27-11) put some distance between the two teams, squashing Chapman's hopes of another upset over the top-20 Lancers. Mulé came off the bench for Chapman in the second quarter and scored all four of his goals in the period as the Panthers trailed just 7-6 at halftime. However, the Cal Baptist out-scored Chapman 9-2 in the final two quarters to win going away. The Panthers had defeated Cal Baptist 11-8 earlier this month. Junior 2-meter Austin McElvaney earned three assists in the game to break Chapman's all-time assists mark, now with 127 assists in his career.

CBU Goals: Steiger (5), Woolstenhulme (3), Bills (2), Hines, Janzen, Morgan, Ogclen, Toy
CU Goals: Mulé (4), Chapman, Eynon, Masson, McElvaney

CBU Goalie Blocks: N/A
CU Goalie Blocks: Gasper (8)