CLAREMONT, Calif. - Ten different players scored goals, led by two apiece from Donovan Davidson and Nick Kennedy, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team defeated Cal Lutheran 12-7 in the opening round of the SCIAC Tournament on Tuesday evening at Axelrood Pool. 

With the win, the fourth-seeded Stags improve to 15-11 on the season and move on to face top-seeded Redlands on the road on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in one of two semifinals. Chapman and Pomona-Pitzer will play each other in the other semifinal with the two winners advancing to the SCIAC Championship game on Saturday. 

Jake Taylor had nine saves, including one on a penalty shot, to get the win in goal, while also adding four steals and two assists.

CMS swung the momentum in the final minute of the first half with a pair of goals to take a 6-3 lead into the break. Davidson scored his second of the quarter to make it 5-3 with 59 seconds left, and then Gavin Netherton struck with five seconds remaining to make it a 6-3 lead. 

Kennedy opened the second-half scoring with his first with 5:35 left in the third quarter, when he scored on a no-look backhand goal with an empty net after Cal Lutheran goalie Javier Gonzalez came off his line to try to get a steal. The Kingsmen answered on the following possession to cut the lead to 7-4, but CMS scored three goals in a row to take control, with Cristian Pang, Luke Leonard and Jeffrey Koretz getting on the scoresheet to make it 10-4 with 1:57 left in the third. 

Kennedy added a second goal to open the fourth quarter, and Hassen Hove helped seal it at the end of the shot clock with 2:11 left. Ivey Gehring, Stryker Scales and Luke (Bear) Weigle each added first-half goals for the Stags. 

CMS will face Redlands in a rematch of last year's SCIAC Championship and USA Water Polo Championship games, which the Stags won 9-4 and 6-5, respectively. This year, CMS defeated Redlands in overtime at Axelrood Pool 9-8, before the Bulldogs won the rematch in Redlands 13-10.