LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's water polo team fell to host Occidental College, 23-5, this afternoon on the first day of the Gary Troyer Invitational at De Mandel Aquatics Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
The Lyons dip to 0-7 on the season, while the Tigers, who received votes in the most recent College Water Polo Association Division III national poll, improve to 3-14.
Occidental out-shot Wheaton by a count of 39-23 and owned a 16-3 scoring advantage at halftime.
Sophomore utility player Spyros Rapsomanikis (Kerkyra, Greece) led the Lyons with a pair of goals and an assist to go with a steal and three drawn exclusions, while first year attacker Hudson Kosiba (Birmingham, Mich.) netted a career-high two goals. First year attacker Charles Jacoby (Reading, Pa.) scored a goal and drew an exclusion. Sophomore goalie Dylan Boccali (Ventura, Calif.) stopped six shots in net and added a steal for Wheaton.
Eighteen different players scored for the Tigers, including junior utility player Danny Miller (Seattle, Wash.), who netted a match-high four markers. Sophomore attacker Lucas Washburn (Orinda, Calif.), scored twice and added an assist, while senior attacker Travis Hughes (Corte Madera, Calif.)) finished the contest with a game-high five points, including four assists. Sophomore utility player Kevin Castellanos (Chicago, Ill.) and junior attacker Jake Eulenhoefer (Ventura, Calif.) each tallied three points with a goal and two assists each and each came up with a steal. Senior goalie Jack Schroeder (Elmhurst, Ill.) stopped six of nine shots in 16 minutes, before sophomore keeper Will Garcia (Arcadia, Calif.) turned away five of seven shots in eight minutes and first year netminder Tyler Leung (Glencoe, Ill.) denied all three shots that he faced in a quarter of action for Oxy.
The teams traded a goal in the opening 35 seconds with Miller scoring just 18 ticks into the game, before Jacoby matched him just 17 seconds later to pull the Lyons even at 1-1.
Occidental scored the next six goals over a span of 5:49, including two more markers from Miller, to give the home team a 7-1 cushion with 1:36 to play in the opening quarter. Rapsomanikis netted the final Wheaton goal of the period to make it 7-2 at the 1:16 mark.
The Tigers ripped off nine straight goals, including the final score of the first quarter and two goals from Washburn, to increase their margin to 16-2 with 4:01 showing on the second quarter clock. Kosiba tallied the Lyons' lone goal of the period to cut the deficit to 16-3 with 77 seconds remaining in the first half.
Occidental scored the first three markers of the third quarter, including a goal from sophomore center Noah Emmitt (Agoura Hills, Calif.) to give the Tigers a 19-3 advantage with 4:01 left in the period. Kosiba and Rapsomanikis netted back-to-back goals to pull Wheaton within 19-5 with 1:41 to go in the third quarter.
Occidental scored the last four goals of the game, including the final marker from first year defender Vincent Ryser (Seattle, Wash.).
The Lyons return to action tonight when they take on No. 6 California Lutheran University at 7:00 p.m. in De Mandel Aquatics Center, while the Tigers play University of California Merced at 5:45 p.m.
