A win over Redlands highlights water polo team's busy weekend

ORANGE, Calif. –  Over the weekend, the Chapman University men's water polo team registered its first-ever win over the University of Redlands and went 1-4 overall at tournaments hosted by UC Irvine and UCLA. Each of the Panthers' losses came to Division I teams ranked in the top-8 nationally including top-ranked USC and No. 2 UCLA.

After losing a pair of games to UC Irvine and Long Beach State, both by a score of 16-8, Chapman ended the UC Irvine Tournament on Saturday with an 11-9 victory over Redlands. Junior utility Brett Carter accounted for seven of the team's 11 scores in the match with four goals and three assists. Junior driver James Vigeant added three scores for the Panthers while senior goalie Taylor Roszkos secured the win with 14 blocks and five steals.

On Sunday at the UCLA Invitational, Chapman faced off against the two top teams in the nation in USC and host UCLA. In the morning, UCLA beat Chapman 15-5, but had to come back from a first quarter deficit to do so.

Chapman (1-4) led 2-0 after goals by Carter and freshman utility Willis Allen and maintained a 3-2 lead until the six minute mark of the second quarter. UCLA then ran off consecutive goals by Josh Samuels and Daniel Lenhart to take a 4-3 lead with 4:42 remaining before the half. Carter tied the game at 4-4 with his second score of the game with 3:24 remaining before halftime. Chapman would only score one other time in the game as the Bruins scored 10-consecutive goals to put the game away.

In the afternoon match, USC led from start to finish as they built an 8-0 lead into the second quarter and led by as many as 18 scores in the fourth quarter. Chapman's first goal of the game came at the 2:38 mark of the second quarter on a goal by sophomore driver Mark Alvarado.

Carter was Chapman's top offensive player over the weekend tallying 12 goals and six assists to go along with four steals and two earned ejections. Alvarado and junior driver Dylan Trumbull each scored five goals over the weekend while Vigeant scored four. Chapman next plays at the Inland Empire Tournament beginning on Saturday, Sept. 8.

by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant

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