Pomona-Pitzer drowns water polo's SCIAC title hopes in OT thriller

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's water polo team saw its SCIAC title hopes vanish in heartbreaking fashion, falling to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 11-10 in 'golden goal' overtime at the Allred Pool on Friday night in the first round of the SCIAC Championships.

The championships' No. 4-seed Pomona-Pitzer (10-21 overall, 6-3 SCIAC) got the game-winning goal from senior Ryan Higgins with just 56 seconds remaining in the 'golden goal' period. That came only after teammate senior Jarrod Gaut kept the game alive by scoring the tying goal with 0.2 seconds remaining in the second overtime frame.

After a scoreless first OT tied at 8-8, No. 5-seed Chapman (8-11 overall, 5-4 SCIAC) built a two-goal advantage with back-to-back goals from senior James Vigeant and junior Mark Alvarado. It was the Panthers' first lead since the first quarter.

The Panther defense had been stellar in the fourth quarter and first OT, going a span of 15 minutes without allowing a goal. But Pomona-Pitzer came right back with a quick goal with 1:23 left in the second OT before improbably netting the game-tying goal in the final ticks of the clock.

The match was tight the whole way through with the only exception being the Sagehens scoring five consecutive goals in the first and second quarters to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 lead late in the first half. However, Chapman came right back with two goals before the intermission to trail 5-4 and the teams were never separated by more than two goals for the remainder of the match.

Gaut led the way for the Sagehens with three goals, while Chapman senior Brett Carter also scored three.

The goalies were outstanding in this match as well, matching save for save between Chapman freshman Ian Decker (17 saves) and Pomona-Pitzer's Austin Strong (20 saves).

Pomona-Pitzer advances to the SCIAC Championships semifinals to face top-seeded Whittier. Chapman falls into the consolation bracket and will face No. 8-seed Occidental on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Allred Pool.

A complete recap of Friday's championships, tournament schedule, ticketing information and more can be found at the SCIAC Men's Water Polo Championship website here: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/mwaterpolo/tournament/index

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/mwaterpolo/tournament/Game_5.pdf

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