Men’s water polo earns big victory over Cal Lutheran on senior day

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University men's water polo team (11-15, 7-5 SCIAC) earned a huge 13-9 senior day victory over the visiting Cal Lutheran Kingsmen (14-11, 7-5 SCIAC) earlier this afternoon. Junior Hunter Ramaekers led the squad, scoring a season-high four goals in the effort.

Ramaekers scored his first goal – the only goal of the quarter – nearly six minutes into the match to give Chapman a 1-0 lead after eight minutes of play.

The two sides picked up steam in the second quarter, scoring 10 goals combined. Sophomore Graham Asalone scored the first of his two goals just 17 seconds into the second quarter to give the Panthers a two-goal lead. The Kingsmen responded swiftly, scoring back-to-back goals within 32 seconds of each other to tie the match.

Chapman added two more goals to regain its two-goal lead, but Cal Lutheran responded again, tying the match at 4-4. The two sides traded goals before sophomore Evan Belli scored the final goal of the half to give the Panthers a 6-5 lead heading into halftime.

The Kingsmen came out strong in the third quarter, scoring back-to-back goals to take their first and only lead of the match. Down one goal, the Panthers fired on all cylinders, scoring five in a row to take a 10-7 lead with just over five minutes to play in the match.

From then on, it was Chapman game management as Belli and junior Hayden Reider scored a couple of insurance goals in the final minutes of play to take the 13-9 victory.

Ramaekers shot 100 percent on the afternoon, scoring on all four of his shots. He also added an assist and four steals in the effort. Sophomore Brad Wilson led the Panthers with four assists while scoring two goals and tallying a steal. Reider, Belli, Wilson and Asalone all found the back of the net twice, followed by sophomore Andy Anguiano with one goal.

Senior goalkeeper Wes Hertel tallied seven saves and four steals in the win. He and fellow seniors Jared Bernardi and Peter Dales were honored prior to the start of the match for their dedication to the Panther uniform.

Chapman heads to Redlands this weekend before returning to Allred Olympic Pool on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. to host Whittier in the final home match of the regular season.

by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant

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