Whittier College Men's Water Polo Finish Season in Impressive Fashion
The Whittier College Men's Water Polo 2008 Season started with great anticipation and excitement. Head Coach Justin Pudwill singed 17 freshmen who would be asked to contribute right away as first college players to a revamped program. With one of the largest recruiting classes in the NCAA, several of the recruits came from strong water polo backgrounds and schools with prominent water polo tradition. Coach Justin Pudwill was anxious to see how his first official recruiting class would gel when it came to intense NCAA competition, but knew his talented players would grasp his coaching philosophy and system, and eventually excel as a unit.
The Poets kicked off their season competing in the Inland Empire Tournament in Redlands where Division I and SCIAC teams would be playing. The Poets first game of the year was against nationally ranked #14 University of Pacific. The poets stepped up to the challenge and played UOP tough till half time, but eventually lost to the MPSF power. In the second game of the tournament Whittier dropped to SCIAC Foe University of Redlands, who was ranked #16 in the nation at the time. The second day of the tournament included games against SCIAC teams Claremont-Mudd Scripps and the University of La Verne. The Poets played exceptionally well the second day of the tournament losing a close game to CMS and beating La Verne. Overall Coach Pudwill was pleased with his teams' performance and looked forward to his players' development over the course of the season.
The following weekend the Poets traveled to Thousand Oaks to play in the Cal Lutheran Invitational. On the first day of competition Whittier played against NAIA powers Fresno Pacific and Concordia University. The team battled Fresno tough dropping a close game in overtime and lost to Concordia in the afternoon. The next day the Poets suffered a defeat to Chapman University but handily beat La Verne by seven goals displaying their improvement after one weekend of competition.
On September 26th the Poets played in the Cal Baptist Invitation deep in the heart of Riverside. The squad came out firing taking a lead into the fourth quarter against a Cal Baptist team full of seniors that was ranked # 17 in the nation at the time. Although the Poets received excellent goalie play and successfully defended 14 of Cal Baptists' man advantages, the Poets were unable to keep their lead. In the afternoon match, the team lost to Riverside College by one, but vowed to have a better showing in the second day of the tournament. The Poets held true to pledge by routing the California Maritime Academy 13-4, and defeating Chaffey College 11-7 later in the day. The wins conveyed the team's talent and abilities coupled with their youth as Coach Pudwill started 5 freshmen and substituted 4 in his second unit for the weekend.
The Poets hoped to continue their success as they would face their toughest round of tournament competition in the Claremont Convergence on the 3rd and 2th of October in which the Poets would battle three Division I programs as well as rivals from the Western Water Polo Association. The tournament began with the team falling to #12 ranked Santa Clara. However, the second game of the day proved the teams' resilience and determination as they came back from a 4 goal deficit to overcome WWPA Adversary University of California Santa Cruz in overtime. In the second day's games Whittier lost to the #20 ranked United States Air Force Academy, but got the better of George Washington University, one of the prominent eastern teams, by beating GWU in the Poets second overtime win of the tournament. It was the fourth overtime game for Whittier on the season. The Whittier coaches were proud of their young team's achievements over the weekend and believed that they would be able to carry such success into the following matches.
The weekend of October 11th marked the inaugural Whittier College Showdown Tournament which was hosted by the team at Chapman University's aquatic complex. With the Poets coming off a strong showing at the Claremont Convergence, the team was poised to gain revenge by playing against teams they had lost too early in the year. In the Poets first game Whittier played Fresno Pacific and proceeded to allow them to gain a 5 goal advantage. However, with adjustments and will power, the Poets clawed their way back into the game and overtook FPU winning the game by one and avoiding another overtime situation. In the second game of the day Whittier once again faced California Baptist but was unable to achieve retribution, losing to the nationally ranked opponent. On the second day of competition the Poets breezed through a match with Chaffey College to set up a rematch with WWPA rival Chapman in the 3rd place game of the tournament. Chapman had beaten the men earlier in the season, but the Poets were confident that the same result would not occur. In a defensive battle, the Whittier men beat Chapman by 2 goals, and held their leading scorer to zero goals on the game. With the 3rd place victory locked up, the Poets had gained the confidence that they would need as a young squad in order to be successful while engaging in grueling SCIAC conference competition.
The first SCIAC game was a breeze for the Poets as they beat the Cal Tech beavers. Following the game, Whittier held its annual Alumni Game in which the graduates lost a spirited contest to the current team. The next conference opponent for Whittier was La Verne in which the Poets were able to trounce the Leopards by 14 goals. Following the victory against La Verne, Whittier lost a close game to Claremont in which the Poets were looking to avenge an early season loss to the Staggs. The same results ensued in games against Occidental, Pomona-Pitzer, Redlands, and California Lutheran, as Whittier dropped close matches to teams laden with upper classman. However, the Poets gained a favorable schedule for the SCIAC Conference Championships and were looking to upset teams with higher seeds in the tournament.
On November 14th Whittier began the SCIAC Tournament against the favored Occidental Tigers who finished 3rd in the regular season standings and had beaten the Poets earlier in the year. Although the Tigers were the favored team, the Poets game plan worked like clockwork, as the team was able to use their speed and stellar defense to upset Occidental 4-3 and set up a Semifinals showdown against last year's SCIAC Champion Pomona-Pitzer. This was the first time a Whittier College Men's Water Polo team made it to the Semifinals of the SCIAC Tournament since 2005. The Semifinals was an intense match in which lead changes occurred frequently for both Whittier and Pomona. Though the Poets fought passionately, they were unable to secure victory and lost to Pomona by 2 goals, which set up a 3rd place game against the University of Redlands. The Poets played tough, but eventually lost to Redlands placing 4th in the conference tournament.
The season was definitely a successful one for the Whittier Poets as many players gained national recognition and accolades. Goalie Casey Regehr and Team Captain and lone Senior Chris Villanueva gained 2nd ALL SCIAC honors. Freshman Wes Paulson and Sophomore Will Jackson were selected as SCIAC Honorable Mention. Casey Regehr was also elected as a member of the Western Water Polo Association 2nd team, while Freshman Alex Hernandez made the WWPA All Freshmen team. The Poets finished 12-16, had a record of 3-6 in conference, and was ranked #8 in the NCAA Division III Polls.
The future holds bright for the Whittier College Men's Water Polo program. With only losing one Senior and returning several young players with great talent, Coach Pudwill had the Poets poised for future success for a long time in Division III. Many of the Freshmen gained valuable playing experience, which will definitely have the team ready for domination in 2009. The coaching staff was very proud of their young team, and was pleased to see their development and progress throughout the season. With incoming talent, the Poets will surely be among the SCIAC elite. Whittier College is also proud to announce that we will start construction for the new Whittier College Aquatics Facility in August of 2009. The facility will be state of the art and will be the newest and modern pool in the SCIAC conference.
