Chapman tops Whittier for first-ever win at WWPA Championships

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In three previous appearances at the Western Water Polo Association Men's Championships, the Chapman University men's water polo team has come up winless. That all changed on Sunday morning as Chapman defeated Whittier College 13-12 in sudden-death overtime on a goal by senior utility Dominic Tornambe to capture ninth place and the school's first-ever WWPA postseason victory.

Chapman (12-15) trailed for the majority of regulation and only tied the game at 9-9 with 17 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The Panthers first lead of the game did not come until the first overtime period when Tornambe scored his second of three goals in the game to make the score 10-9. In addition to Tornambe's three goals, senior driver Chase Parlee had three goals followed by two goals each from senior utility Stephen Neville and freshman 2M Brett Carter.

Neville had a team-high 10 goals over the course of three-day tournament and became the first Chapman player to be selected to the All-Tournament team.

On Friday, Air Force defeated Chapman for the third time this season, this time 15-5 in the tournament's opening game. Neville had four scores on 11 shots against the Falcons. The Panthers then dropped a 13-9 decision to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday morning.

Chapman finished the season with 12 wins which is the second-most in single-season, school-history. The school record for wins is 14 and has been accomplished twice, most recently in 2008.

by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant