University of La Verne

LA VERNE, CA — The Leopards rallied in the second half and got within two of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps late. But the University of La Verne men's water polo team couldn't overcome a first-half deficit, falling to the Stags 10-7 Saturday afternoon.

Josh Lamberton led the Leopards with three goals, one steal, and one drawn exclusion. Timothy Robles finished with one goal, one assist, four steals, one block, and one drawn exclusion.

Trailing 8-5 entering the final minutes, Robles came through big with a goal with 6:39 left to play. 

CMS responded with a goal three minutes later to go back up by three, but it didn't take long for La Verne to answer. With just under three minutes to play, junior Golden West College transfer Xavier Turla found the back of the net to put La Verne within range. But the Stags' Tor Martin answered with 2:23 left, and the Leopards couldn't close the gap.

Christian Acosta scored once and drew one exclusion. Henry De Luna finished with eight saves and two steals.

Fletcher Appeldorn paced CMS with four scores.

The Leopards move to 6-8 overall and 1-4 in the SCIAC. CMS improves to 9-12 overall and 5-1 in conference play.

La Verne returns to action on Wednesday, October 21, at 7 p.m. at Cal Lutheran.