Panthers set school wins record, place ninth at WWPAs
LA JOLLA, Calif. – The Chapman University men's water polo team went 2-1 at the Western Water Polo Association Championships at UC San Diego over the weekend to finish in ninth place overall. In the process, the Panthers set the school record for most wins in a season with their 15th victory of the year in a 7-5 decision over Whittier College in the ninth-place game on Saturday afternoon.
Chapman (15-14) earned its first winning season since 2001 and tied for its best finish at the WWPA championships – placing ninth for the second straight year.
Game 1: Redlands 10, Chapman 7
The Bulldogs never trailed and outscored the Panthers by a 4-1 margin in the third quarter that broke open a one-goal game after halftime. Senior driver David Carson and freshman driver Chase Middlesworth each scored a pair of goals and sophomore driver Dylan Trumbull earned four assists. Junior goalie Taylor Roszkos made 10 blocks in goal in the loss.
Game 2: Chapman 14, Occidental 4
Chapman jumped to a 6-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back to earn a 14-4 win over Occidental and set up a rematch of last year's ninth-place game with Whittier College. Carson scored five goals and had three assists and freshman driver Mark Alvarado added four for the Panthers. Chapman scored seven of its 14 goals with a 6-on-5 man advantage.
Game 3: Chapman 7, Whittier 5 (Ninth-Place Game)
Middlesworth scored the go-ahead goal with 24 seconds remaining to lift Chapman to a 7-5 win over Whittier to claim ninth place. It was the second of three consecutive goals the Panthers would score, turning around a 5-4 deficit with 6:21 to play. Alvarado tied the game at 5-5 with 3:38 on the clock before Middlesworth scored the game-winner. Senior 2-meter Pierre Masson scored Chapman's final goal with just 1 second remaining. Alvarado scored three goals and was named to the All-Tournament team with eight goals in the three games. Rozskos had eight saves for Chapman.
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