LA VERNE, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton men's water polo went undefeated on Day One of the Inland Empire Classic with wins over La Verne (23-12) and Westcliff (25-7). The Titans scored 48 goals in two games, after entering the day with 38 total goals this season.
Cal State Fullerton 23, La Verne 12
Togan Ozbek (4 G, 1 A) opened the scoring just over a minute into the game, giving the Titans an early 1-0 lead. La Verne answered back but was not successful in overtaking the Titans at any point. Ozbek scored two more goals before the first eight minutes were up.
Nico D'Angelo (1 G, 2 A) showed dominance on both sides of the pool with a turnover recovery he swam down and beat the goalie on for a 3-2 lead.
Ethan Cooney closed the first quarter with a goal while Jacob Hatch (4 G) opened the second quarter with back-to-back goals, for a 7-3 edge over the Leopards.
Bende Aubeli, Cooney, Bradley Pearce and Dominic Hernandez each netted a shot before the break, providing an 11-4 cushion at halftime.
The Titans continued to fight in the second half, putting up six goals in both the third and fourth quarters.
Garrett Henderson earned a .636 save percentage between the posts, where he allowed four goals, earned two steals and saved seven shots. Goalies Seth Zarn and Cy Hammerstrom relieved Henderson of goalkeeping duties, allowing a combined eight goals.
A long pass from Zarn to Ozbek found the hand of Paredes who tapped the ball into the upper half of the goal, grabbing a 13-4 edge in the third quarter.
Julian Nichols (1 G, 1 A) scored the 20th goal in the fourth quarter alongside Aaron Ayala (3 G) and Francisco Paredes (2 G) who also contributed to the 12 goals after the half.
Alec Isaacman made his season debut in the fourth quarter, scoring an even-strength goal. This rally completed the 23-12 victory over the Leopards and Fullerton's second win of the season.
Cal State Fullerton 25, Westcliff 7
Game two got off to a slow start, leaving the first quarter down 1-2. D'Angelo (2 G) scored Fullerton's lone goal three minutes into the game tying it at 1-1.
Nichols (6 G, 1 A) and Hatch (4 G, 3 STL) broke into a contagious rhythm, scoring four straight goals at the start of the second quarter. Leading 5-2, Ozbek scored on a five-meter attempt and even strength to bump the Titans ahead 7-2. Nichols and Hatch continued to be a force to be reckoned with, running away with a 10-5 lead.
Zack Ewing, D'Angelo and Nichols beat the goalie on power-play attempts, entering halftime ahead of Westcliff, 13-5.
The unstoppable pair of Nichols and Hatch put the Titans ahead of Westcliff 16-5 before Bende Aubeli and Ewing contributed to the fire for a 17-5 lead.
Tony Benedetti entered the game with a magnetic drive, scoring three times in under three minutes.
Westcliff's defense allowed Reese Starkey to find himself in a face-off with their goalie, launching the ball into the net.
Will Johnson secured Fullerton's 25-7 win at the five-meter mark with 2:27 left on the clock. This goal shattered the newly set record of game one (23 G) and reset it to 25 goals in a single game best.
The Titans return to Inland Empire Classic play on Sunday at the University of Redlands. They are set to take on Air Force at 9:20 a.m. and Whittier College at noon.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
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Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans). In addition, the water polo teams have established their own Twitter (@Fullerton_WP) and Instagram accounts (@Fullerton_WP).