Men’s water polo competed for the first time in Biola history. The Eagles headed down south to La Jolla, California for the University of California San Diego Triton Invitational on Sept. 4-5. Men’s water polo competed against No. 1 National Champions UCLA, Westcliff University, Pepperdine University and Pomona College.
DAY ONE DEBUT
Although the Eagles lost all four matches they put up a good fight and held their own against No. 1 reigning champions the Bruins. The Eagles managed to get the first stop over UCLA. The Bruins made five goals before the Eagles responded with a goal of their own. The first goal in program history was made by sophomore utility player Dominic Hidalgo-Vallecilo. The Eagles were defeated, 21-2.
On Saturday afternoon the Eagles faced off against the Westcliff Warriors. Biola used their loss as motivation and were able to keep the point deficit low. Freshman goalkeeper Mitchell Carpenter had a total of 10 saves in this match. In the third and fourth quarter the Eagles matched points with the Warriors but lost, 10-7.
DAY TWO DETERMINATION
Similar to their first day of competition the Eagles were challenged by a strong competitor. Biola went up against No. 5 in the nation the Pepperdine Waves. Biola remained scoreless until the second quarter when freshman utility player Josiah Brimmage scored a goal over the Waves. Carpenter continued the fight, totaling 10 saves for the match. The Eagles were unfortunately crushed by the Waves, 19-4.
The last opponent of the Triton Invitational for the Eagles were the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens. Biola was able to match the score for the first quarter. The Eagles logged their highest score in program history with 10 goals. They had seven players score goals for the match. Freshman center Luke Franklin and center defenders Nolan Rapp and Will Tibbetts all scored 2 goals each for the match. The Eagles showed improvement but it still was not enough as they were defeated, 18-10.
Men’s water polo (0-4) will return home to Splash Aquatic Center on Sept. 15 at 2 p.m. to go against the Westcliff Warriors. Footage from this weekend’s tournament is located on Biola Athletics’ website.
