No. 1 Whittier holds off Claremont-M-S, 10-8

Photo by: Laurence Martinez

WHITTIER, Calif. - Alex Perry scored a game-high six goals, which includes one from five meters, as he led the No. 1 Whittier College men's water polo team to a 10-8 win over No. 6 Claremont-M-S on Senior Day at the Lillian Slade Aquatics Center.

Fellow senior Casey Regehr made 11 saves in the second half and totaled 14 for the game in Whittier's sixth consecutive win.

The Poets (15-9, 6-0 SCIAC) traded goals with the Stags (11-13, 3-3 SCIAC) in the first two quarters as the two teams scored two goals in each the first and second quarter. The score was tied at four at halftime.

Perry scored three of his goals in the first half.

Whittier opened up the third quarter on a 3-0 run on goals from Perry, Wes Paulson and Perry again to take a 7-4 lead with 3:14 to play. Perry's second score came in a man-up situation. Claremont gained a little momentum at the end of the third with the final two scores to pull within one goal at 7-6.

The Stags were able to even the score at the 6:53 mark in the fourth quarter but the Poets scored three of the final four goals en route to the two-goal win.

Perry tallied his final goal at 4:51 and Jordan Van Norman scored with 1:48 remaining to put Whittier up 9-7. CMS tacked on one more goal in fourth with 42 seconds left and Uriel Villa added the final bit of insurance with two seconds left.

The reigning WWPA Player of the Week, Rilesh Desai, had his hand in four goals as he finished the game with four assists and two steals.  Van Norman, Lincoln Haley and Paulson all had two steals.

Whittier returns to action on Saturday, November 7, as they face Occidental and Cal Baptist at 11 am and 3:30 pm, respectively, on the road.