CLAREMONT, Calif. - Nick Kennedy had two goals and eight assists, going over 100 points for the season already (53 goals, 50 assists), as the top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team defeated La Verne 21-7 on Saturday morning at Axelrood Pool. 

The win was the eighth in a row for the Stags, who improve to 12-4 on the year, and 3-0 in the SCIAC. La Verne slips to 6-7 overall and 1-2 in league play with the loss. 

Luke (Bear) Weigle had a team-high four goals, as well as six drawn exclusions, and Jeffrey Koretz and Thomas Walker each had hat tricks for the Stags. Ivey Gehring, Asher Engelberg and Gavin Netherton joined Kennedy in the two-goal club. 

La Verne hung tough for most of the first half, after the Stags jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead. The Leopards pulled to within 5-3 at the end of the first quarter, and had numerous chances to pull within one goal, but Jake Taylor (10 saves) had several key stops to prevent La Verne from getting too close. 

Netherton closed out the half with a goal to make the score 8-5 and give CMS a bit of the momentum back heading into intermission, and the Stags took control with a 7-1 third quarter.  Gehring scored twice in the first two minutes of the third quarter to push the lead to 10-5, and after La Verne scored to make it 10-6, the Stags scored the next six goals to take a double-digit lead in the fourth. 

Stryer Scales and Caiden Titus added fourth quarter goals for CMS, while Chase Campbell picked up a save and a steal in relief of Taylor. Donovan Davidson led CMS with three steals, to go along with three assists. 

CMS will be back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Occidental for a 7 p.m. contest.