Mark Alvarado (Larry Newman Photography)
Mark Alvarado (Larry Newman Photography)

Alvarado gets goal No. 200 as Panthers clinch third seed in SCIAC

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's water polo team equaled the program record with its 15th win of the season, handing visiting Caltech an 18-8 defeat at the Allred Pool on Saturday. The Panthers have now won 12 of their past 14 games and clinched the No. 3 seed in next weekend's SCIAC Championships with the win.

Senior driver Mark Alvarado also became just the fourth player in school history to reach 200 career goals, scoring the milestone goal – his third of the game – in the fourth quarter.

After jumping out to a 9-4 halftime lead, things got a little too close for Chapman's comfort in the third quarter. Caltech opened the period with back-to-back goals to make it 9-6, but couldn't convert on three successive shots that hit off posts, which would have cut the Panther lead to just two. From there, Chapman finished the game on a 9-2 scoring run. Junior utility Willis Allen led the Panthers with four goals in the game, all coming in the second half.

Celebrating 'Senior Day' for seven graduating seniors, Drew Moyer (two), Chase Middlesworth (two), Jake Gross and Jacob Mohler all scored goals for the Panthers. Seniors Tim Breitfeller and Dor Apffel (DNP) were also honored prior to the game.

Chapman (15-9 overall, 6-2 SCIAC) matched the school record of 15 wins set in 2011 and can break that record as it heads into the SCIAC Championships next weekend. The Panthers will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament and face the No. 6 seed (still to be determined) on Friday at 5:15 p.m. at the University of Redlands.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/mwaterpolo/2014-15/files/CIT-CU.pdf

Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
Post your #PantherPic to Instagram @ChapmanSports
#Chaptown