Box Score CLAREMONT, Calif. - Gavin Netherton scored back-to-back goals in the final three minutes to break a 10-10 tie as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team rallied from three goals down to defeat Pomona-Pitzer 12-11 on Wednesday evening at Pomona-Pitzer's Haldeman Pool. 

CMS moves to 13-12 overall on the season with the win and improves to 9-1 in the SCIAC, tying with Pomona-Pitzer (8-1) in the loss column heading into the regular season's final week, with the two teams splitting their head-to-head meetings. Redlands and Cal Lutheran are currently tied for third at 6-3, with Redlands visiting CMS on Nov. 14 and Cal Lutheran playing Pomona-Pitzer in what could be a big day to sort out the final standings. 

The two SCIAC Semifinal winners also receive bids to the USA Water Polo Division III Championships, which makes home pool advantage for the semifinal round even more crucial. CMS won the USA Water Polo national title last year, 9-4 over Pomona-Pitzer, its second in the last three years after also winning the 2023 title 6-5.

Nick Kennedy had four goals and two assists for the Stags, while Weston Hartel had one goal, two assists and three steals. 

Pomona-Pitzer rallied from five goals down to win the first meeting with the Stags, but this time CMS had a key 5-0 run to turn an 8-5 deficit into a 10-8 lead. Kennedy started the run with 1:14 left in the third, and Hartel beat the buzzer with a goal with one second left to pull CMS within 8-7 heading into the fourth. 

Jack Bryant pulled the Stags even with 7:11 to play, and Kennedy scored two goals in a row to put CMS ahead 10-8 to cap off the 5-0 run. Pomona-Pitzer came back to tie it 10-10, but Netherton broke the tie for good with 2:44 left off a Kennedy pass. Netherton added another goal to make it 12-10 off a Bryant feed with 1:15 to go to give the Stags some insurance.

The Sagehens got one final goal with five seconds left which didn't affect the final result, but does pull the two teams even on goal differential head-to-head (Pomona-Pitzer won the first meeting 10-9), which could affect the tiebreaker scenarios for the top seed. 

Jeffrey Koretz, Asher Engelberg and Fletcher Appeldorn added goals for the Stags, while Evan Liberatore had a team-high three assists. 

CMS will next be in action when it hosts Caltech on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Axelrood Pool, before finishing the regular season at home against Redlands on Nov. 14.