By Jennifer Simons

California Baptist University hosted the Lancer Invitational last weekend, September 28 and 29, in Riverside, CA where the #20 Concordia Eagles men's water polo made a strong appearance. 

The men came out of their first match on Friday with a dominating victory against Fresno Pacific University, 15-5.  Junior Jacob Pril led the Eagles with four goals followed by senior Kevin Hurley, junior Trey Davis, sophomore Stefano Ragosa, and sophomore David Linden, each finding the back of the net twice during the match. Freshman Weston Paulson, sophomore Andras Antal, and junior Ryan McDonald also contributed with solo goals.  Freshman Brandon Lucia added a win to the record book and three saves and split the match with freshman Jaime Saunders who added five saves of his own. 

Unfortunately the second match of the day fell just short against #19 California Baptist University, 10-15.  Sophomore Andras Antal battled in the fourth quarter with four goals and led the game for the Eagles.   Close behind him was junior Jacob Pril with three goals, sophomore Stefano Ragosa with two goals, and sophomore David Linden with a single goal. In the net, freshman Brandon Lucia had a solid performance with a total of eleven saves. 

Despite the defeat the night before, Concordia came back to the pool with a vengeance against (RV DIII) Occidental College, 16-9 on Saturday.  Again, sophomore Andras Antal dominated the pool by leading the Eagles with an outstanding performance of five goals.  Not far behind were juniors Trey Davis and Bryan Buhagiar who shot past the goalie three times.  Freshman Weston Paulson and junior Ryan McDonald also contributed with two goals and junior Hanns Gonzales had a single goal. Freshman Jaime Saunders left the pool with a great performance of eleven saves. 

In the final match of the tourney, the Eagles did not let up against (#4 DIII) Claremont-Mudd, finishing the game with a dominating performance of 15-5.  Same story told, with sophomore Andras Antal coming up strong with four goals to lead the team.  A junior trio, Ryan McDonald, Jacob Pril, and Bryan Buhagiar, each threw in their contributions twice between the posts.  Adding to the victory with solo shots were senior Kevin Hurley, junior Trey Davis, junior Anthony Anello, and sophomore David Linden. Making another incredible display of skill was freshman Brandon Lucia with a total of eleven saves.

The Concordia B team also had a great match against Riverside Community College on Friday and came out on top 11-10 in the first overtime.  Junior Ryan McDonald came out with the lead score of the match with three goals. Sophomore Stefano Ragosa came with the two winning goals in overtime. Also scoring two goals in the match was junior Anthony Anello and senior Aaron Rivadeneyra.  Freshman Weston Paulson and junior Bryan Buhagiar had solo shots to the back of the net.  Freshmen Brandon Lucia and Jaime Saunders shared the game guarding the net, both coming out with a total of five saves apiece. Saunders held off Riverside in overtime with one save to gain the victory.

The Eagles are back in action tomorrow and Saturday, October 5 and 6.  On Friday they will play in the Gary Troyer Memorial hosted by Pomona-Pitzer.  They face Iona College at 12:15 and (#8 DIII) Whitter at 3:15.  On Saturday they travel to Malibu to battle #8 Pepperdine at 11 am.

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