Nov 20, 2009

Whittier upsets Air Force in WWPA first round

Photo by: Paul Adams

ORANGE, Calif. - One game and one upset at the 2009 Western Water Polo Association Championships. The Whittier College men's water polo team trailed 8-6 at the end of the third quarter but outscored No. 14 Air Force 4-1 in the final frame to shock the Falcons and advance to the program's first WWPA Semifinals with a 10-9 win on Friday morning.

With the win the Poets (20-12) have reached the 20-win plateau for only the third time in program's history and first time since 2004 when Whittier finished the season No. 1 in the country in the Division III poll.

Senior goalie Casey Regehr proved why he was a second-team All-WWPA selection as he finished with a season-high 24 saves; five of which came in man-down situations. The 2008 second-team All-American made his final save with five seconds left in the game to preserve the win for the purple and gold.

Fellow senior Alex Perry was just as impressive with a team-high five goals and one assist. Perry put the Poets up 9-8 at the 1:31 mark of the fourth quarter and added the game winner with 29 seconds remaining from eight meters out. The El Cajon, Calif., native scored three of his goals in the final eight minutes.

The Poets trailed Air Force 3-2 at the end of the first quarter and the Academy extended its lead to 4-2 at the 5:41 mark of the second quarter but Whittier quickly answered with a pair of Uriel Villa goals.

Villa cashed in on his first goal of the afternoon at the 4:42 mark and later tied the score at 4-4 with 3:46 left in the quarter.

Air Force scored two of the final three goals of the quarter to hold a 6-5 lead at the intermission.

Perry opened the second half with a goal at the 6:40 mark but back-to-back Air Force goals gave the Division I Top 20 team an 8-6 lead with 4:56 to play in the third.

Junior Jordan Van Norman scored two goal, had two assists and drew three ejections while Villa finished with a pair of goals and one assist. Van Norman scored the first goal of the game just 41 seconds into the game and tied the score at 8-8 with a score at 2:43 of the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Rilesh Desai added one goal, one assist and three drawn ejections and Perry added one assists, one drawn ejection and one steal to his stat line.

The Poets can finish no worse than fourth in the WWPA which will be their highest finish in school history. Whittier will face the winner between sixth-seeded Redlands and third-seeded UC San Diego at 3:15 pm on Saturday afternoon.