REDLANDS, Calif. – The fourth-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team rallied from a five-goal deficit midway through the third quarter all the way down to a single goal, but dropped an 8-7 road decision to top-seeded Redlands on Thursday evening in the SCIAC Tournament Semifinals at the Thompson Aquatic Center.

The loss ends the CMS season with a 15-12 record, and keeps the Stags from defending their SCIAC and USA Water Polo Division III titles from a year ago, both of which came at the expense of Redlands. The Bulldogs, who have a veteran roster including 16 seniors, get the chance to move on to the SCIAC Tournament Finals and earn a bid to the USA Water Polo Championships with the win.

CMS trailed 8-3 late in the third quarter, but used goals from Luke (Bear) Weigle and Stryker Scales to pull within 8-5 heading into the fourth. Gavin Netherton skipped in a shot with 5:10 left to close the gap to 8-6, and Jake Taylor had saves on three straight Redlands possessions to keep it a two-goal game. Cristian Pang then lobbed in a power-play goal with 1:54 to go to get the Stags all the way back to within one goal.

Pang had a field block on a 6-on-5 to keep CMS within one goal, but they were unable to find a shot on its next possession and took a clock violation with 40 seconds left. Redlands also let the shot clock expire with 10 seconds left, and the Stags pulled the goalie to add an extra attacker with one final chance to try to tie. Auggie Aliaga, wearing the 1A cap as the official goalie, took a pass to the side of the left post, and had a bid for the tying goal from a sharp angle, but Roberto Barrera made the save to seal the win.

CMS started slowly, and did not get on the scoreboard until 1:55 was left in the first half when Donovan Davidson converted to pull the Stags within 3-1. Redlands got off to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but CMS was able to keep it close behind Taylor, who had five saves in the first half, as well as some strong defense in front of him, led by Ivey Gehring, who had two of his three steals in the first half.

Barrera, though, proved to be a tough obstacle in front of the Redlands cage, as he had five first-half saves to throttle the CMS offense.  The Bulldogs added two more goals early in the third quarter to extend the lead to 5-1 before the Stags started to click offensively, getting two goals from Nick Kennedy, which were answered both times by the Bulldogs before CMS made its final push. Taylor finished with nine saves for the Stags, as did Barrera for the Bulldogs. 

The Stags will look to bounce back from this year's defeat and return to the championship podium next year. Unlike the Bulldogs, who graduate 16, CMS will return the bulk of its lineup, losing only seniors Pang, Aliaga, Len Korol and Ashwin Rhodes.