Men's water polo holds off Cal Lutheran for opening round win

ORANGE, Calif. – Eight first half goals played a crucial role in the Chapman University's men's water polo team's 10-8 win over Cal Lutheran in the opening round of the SCIAC Tournament. The fourth-seeded Panthers (15-10, 7-2 SCIAC) built a big lead early on and held off Cal Lutheran's late surge.

Sophomore Bennett Royce opened the first half flood gates for Chapman with an early goal. Three more Panthers found the back of the net in the first quarter to put CU up 4-1. Senior Willis Allen scored his second and final goal of the match in the second quarter to start another barrage of Chapman scores.

The Panthers put up another four spot in the second quarter to go up 8-3 at halftime.

Cal Lutheran was undeterred by the deficit and outscored Chapman 5-2 in the second half. JT Hay scored both of his goals in the fourth quarter and pulled Cal Lu within one goal at 9-8. Freshman Hashem Mosaad-Ahmed quickly countered with a Chapman goal with just seconds remaining to seal the win.

Chapman will face the winner of No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and No. 8 Occidental tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in the SCIAC semifinals. 

by Steven Olveda
Sports Information Assistant

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