Four of Six: WP Collects Another Dub at Blue & Gold Thursday

By Brandon Petersen

Don't look now, but the wins are starting to pile up for the Westcliff Men's Water Polo team.

After winning the NAIA national championship two years ago, then coming tantalizingly close to a repeat last season, the Warriors came into 2024 with just one thought in mind: Redemption.

There was nary a grin among the Warriors a year ago after giving back the NAIA crown to rival OUAZ by a whisper, then being forced to pose for a team photo with their Cal Pac banner for the SID team back at home in Irvine.

Westcliff loaded up its schedule this season, and that's an understatement, literally taking all on comers, from the best the NCAA has to offer, to the best from DII and DIII as well.

And wouldn't you know it, the Dubs already have collected two big upsets, two weeks ago over DIII No. 9 Occidental, and then again last week against DIII No. 4 Cal Lutheran in double overtime.

That was then the third win for the Warriors in their last five.

After Thursday morning's Blue & Gold Game, 19-12 fourth quarter-runaway win over budding rival McKendree out of Illinois, make that four out of their last six.

"First half, our defense got into a little bit of a swim meet, which is not what we wanted to do," Westcliff head coach Erik Zimmerman said. "But we made those fixes at halftime, and I was proud the way our guys played toward the end.

"It was nice to get some guys who normally don't get a lot of time in during that last period. So, moving forward to a four-game weekend, we're on a roll. Two straight wins, and I want to keep it up."

Westcliff has squared off with McKendree in three straight seasons in a burgeoning cross-country rivalry between two programs that compete evenly year after year.

This season didn't disappoint, as the match was a tight, back-and-forth affair through three quarters, the end of which saw the Warriors up just two at 12-10.

But Westcliff turned on the jets in the final frame, outscoring McKendree 7-2 behind three goals from Manuel Augusto, and two each from Louis Grandi and Mark Merai.

"When Manuel's shot is on, the whole team seems to follow suit," Zimmerman said. "So, it was nice to see him get going early. When he doesn't get going early, the team doesn't get going early."

Augusto got going early, he got going late, rumor has it, he was still going in the parking lot after everyone else had left.

One of three Warrior graduate students celebrated afterward by Westcliff's national championship cheer squad as well as a sizable contingent on hand for Blue & Gold Day, Augusto also finished the day with a game-high nine goals.

Aleksa Sisakovic turned in a nice day as well, finishing with three scores and an assist, while Barnabas Vidovics (one goal) racked up five assists.

Andrej Maodus, Westcliff's Sr. Driver from Belgium, had six shots but couldn't find net. Undaunted, Maodus found other ways to produce, supporting his teammates for three assists.

The Warriors played without their starting keeper, Armin Jusztin, after an ejection in the Cal Lutheran win.

No matter.

Leonardo Monges, a Jr. out of Marseille, filled in ably in Jusztin's absence.

"It was nice to see for more than a quarter here and there, that we've got a pretty decent back-up in Leonardo," Zimmerman said. "It was great to be able to evaluate him."

Now the Warriors will gear up for another brutal four-game weekend, this time at the annual Gary Troyer Invite co-hosted by Chapman (Friday) and Occidental (Saturday).

Westcliff will face Fresno Pacific and Chapman on Friday, and both Cal Tech and, you guessed it, Cal Lutheran on Saturday.

After last week's double-overtime thriller, that promises to be a doozy.

Next weekend, you can catch the Warriors for four straight games on ESPN+.

On Friday, Westcliff faces No. 2 USC and No. 16 LMU.

As if that wasn't a big enough challenge, on Sunday, Westcliff will showdown with No. 9 Princeton, and the nation's No. 1 overall, UCLA.

Get your popcorn ready.