Men’s water polo secured their first win of the season against Occidental College in Redlands last weekend on Sept. 11. “A couple of key factors in our Sunday win against Occidental were the patient ball movement and zone defense,” said senior Jeff Runyan, who scored six of their 12 goals and is only twenty goals away from holding the school record. “That was certainly one of the better games we had ever played offensively.” The senior also credits sophomore Jacob Stuart, who scored a career-high of five goals during the matchup, and junior goalie Tanner Powell, who accumulated 16 saves against the Tigers.

After a tough loss against #13 UCSD, the Golden Eagles faced Biola and CBU yesterday, Sept. 22, with Biola being a crucial conference game for them later in the season.. The team is also preparing for a tournament in Claremont where they have another chance to take down Westcliff, who they were five goals shy of at the Triton Invitational earlier this month. “Those difficult opponents really help us learn where our weaknesses are,” Runyan said, “All these games are a way to show us how to better prepare for our conference games.” The Golden Eagles hope to collect a few more wins before their conference season picks up. 

Entering his eighth year as head coach, Dreason Barry prepares his team for conference with tough games early on. “To execute something when it matters, there needs to be automatic recognition of the situation,” said Barry. The team has big competition coming up as they match up against #9 Pepperdine and #7 Long Beach State on Sat., Oct. 1, great opponents to challenge them as they prepare for the rest of their season. Barry is aiming for top four in their conference this season with “great upperclassmen leadership” and some new young additions to his roster. 

“We have many freshmen that are having a significant impact right off the bat,” said Runyan, “The best thing I can do as an older guy on the team is to motivate and empower my teammates to play to their full potential.” He described the team as “incredibly close” along with Stuart who said “in and out of the water, I know these guys have my back and I have theirs.” This camaraderie elevates their gameplay as they can trust and support each other through more difficult matchups. “The score only matters at the final whistle,” freshman Leo Erickson said, “Anything before that isn’t guaranteed.”  The men are keeping their focus on conference, building off each game to identify their weaknesses and capitalize on their strengths. 

Men’s water polo plays at home on Wed., Oct. 12 against Westcliff at 1:30 p.m. You can find full details about their schedule at cuigoldeneagles.com.

 

Tags:

---

About Janie Hobbs

More articles by Janie Hobbs