Polo stays red hot, wins fifth straight

ORANGE, Calif. - Less than 24 hours after taking down the No. 1-ranked team in Division III, the Chapman University men's water polo team did not let up. The Panthers remained red hot, defeating visiting Occidental College 13-6 at the Allred Pool on Sunday afternoon to extend their season-high winning streak to five matches and won for the ninth time in 10 games. The Panthers also improved to 4-2 at home this year.

Chapman (12-9) - ranked No. 6 in last week's Division III poll - broke open a tight two-goal halftime lead by going on a 7-1 run to start the second half. In fact, the Panthers' defense held No. 9 Occidental (5-12) to just one goal in a span of 13:16 in third and fourth quarters.

Senior utility Alex Mulé scored three of his game-high four goals in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for Chapman. Junior utility Steve Neville added three goals , including two in the second half, and three assists to aid the Panthers' offense.

Midway through the first quarter, Occidental had an opportunity to go up 2-0 as Austen Oliver got open for a breakaway one-on-one with Chapman senior goalie Colin Gasper. However, Gasper made the point blank save to keep the Panthers' deficit at one. Chapman then rattled off three consecutive goals to take the lead for good. Gasper made 15 saves in the cage to pace the Panthers' defense.

The Panthers' five-game winning streak is their longest in eight years and just one win shy of the school record of six straight wins set in 2001.

Box Score: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mwaterpolo/2009-10/stats/OXY-CU.pdf