Defense stifles La Verne in second half to earn 10-8 win

ORANGE, Calif. – Led by a strong defensive effort, particularly in the second half, the Chapman University men's water polo team defeated the University of La Verne 10-8 on Wednesday afternoon at the Allred Aquatics Center. After starting the season 2-12, Chapman has now won eight of its last 10 matches.

With 1:16 remaining in the game and a one-score lead at 9-8, junior utility Brett Carter scored an insurance goal for Chapman (10-13, 3-1). Senior G Taylor Roszkos then came up with saves on a pair on last-ditch La Verne scoring efforts to secure the win. Roszkos had 10 blocks in net for Chapman.

To start the second half, La Verne (2-20, 0-4) turned a tie into a 6-5 advantage when sophomore driver Jon Jarvis scored with 7:22 remaining in the third quarter. For the next six-plus minutes, Chapman's defense held La Verne scoreless while the offense put three-straight goals on the board to take a 8-6 lead with 3:59 remaining in the third quarter. The first two Chapman goals were scored by junior driver James Vigeant, the other coming from junior utility Kyle Troiano. Vigeant scored a game-high five times for Chapman.

Chapman's defense allowed just three goals to La Verne in the second half led by sophomore utility Jake Gross and sophomore driver Mark Alvarado who each had a team-high seven steals.

In the first half, La Verne took a 1-0 lead 48 seconds into the game on a score by senior utility Arturo Villalpando. Chapman answered with consecutive goals by Troiano and Carter to take the lead a 2-1. La Verne was tied with Chapman or held a lead for the majority of the first half and into the third quarter. It wasn't until Chapman scored three-straight goals in the third quarter that Chapman held the lead for good.

A total of seven players scored for La Verne led by the two goals from Villalpando. Chapman's next match is Saturday, Oct. 20 at home at 11 a.m. vs. Redlands while La Verne's next match is on the road against Caltech at 11 a.m., also on Saturday.

by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant

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