Pasadena, Calif. (November 20, 2016)—The Pomona-Pitzer Men’s Water Polo team won the SCIAC Postseason Tournament on Sunday with a 7-4 victory over the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags. The team entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed after finishing the regular season undefeated in the SCIAC.
With the win, the nationally ranked No. 17 Sagehens team earns the SCIAC’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament, which begins on December 2. The tournament pairings will be released today at NCAA.com.
On Sunday, Adam Ward (PO ’19) scored the opening two goals and the Sagehens never gave up the lead. Pitzer College sophomore Max Ries ’19 added another goal, but the Stags cut the lead to 3-2 at the end of the period.
James Baker (PO ’17) and Zach Senator (PO ’20) each added a goal in the second quarter, giving the Sagehens a 5-2 advantage at the half. CMS held Pomona-Pitzer scoreless in the third quarter and cut the Sagehens’ lead to one with 4:51 left in the game. But the Sagehens surged late with Jacob Niskey (PO ’20) and Joseph Schafer (PO ’20) each scoring in the final three minutes to seal the game.
Men’s Water Polo goalie Daniel Diemer ’18
Pitzer junior and goalie Daniel Diemer ’18 totaled eight saves in the game. SCIAC dubbed Diemer Men’s Water Polo Player of the Week twice this season. His 194 saves ranked him sixth in the SCIAC as of November 16.
Pomona-Pitzer finished the regular season undefeated in SCIAC play and won the SCIAC Regular Season Championship with a 13-8 win over CMS earlier this month. The team entered the SCIAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Sagehens improve their overall record to 23-8.
The Sagehens last won the SCIAC Tournament in 2011.
