WHITTIER, CA — The University of La Verne men's water polo team outscored the Whittier College Poets in the second half, but fell just short of scoring the equalizer, 16-15 Wednesday night.
Jordan Baker led the Leopards with four goals.
Josh Lamberton and
Nicolo Buono each scored a hat-trick.
Timothy Robles netted two goals, and
Tommy Gibson,
Xavier Turla, and
Luciano Gutierrez each scored once.
Trailing 14-11 heading into the final eight minutes, the Leopards surged to start the fourth quarter with Baker and Robles scoring within 20 seconds of each other to cut the deficit to one. The squads traded goals, with Buono scoring with just under a minute left to give the Leopards a chance to tie in the final seconds. But a Verne couldn't complete the comeback.
The Leopards move to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in the SCIAC and will return to action this Friday and Saturday at the Gary Troyer Invitational.
La Verne opens the tournament against Biola on Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Occidental.
