The Basics
• Scores:
#1 Pomona-Pitzer-14, #8 Johns Hopkins-6
#3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps-9, #8 Johns Hopkins-3
• Records: JHU (1-9) • PPC (9-6) • CMS (6-7)
• Location: Claremont, CA • Haldeman Pool • Axelrood Pool
• The Short Story: The Johns Hopkins water polo team dropped its first two games of the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament Friday night in Claremont, CA.

How it Happened • Pomona-Pitzer
• Johns Hopkins grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a goal by freshman Ian Raley just 22 seconds in. Pomona-Pitzer answered however with four straight to up 4-1. Junior Chris Freese scored with just four seconds remaining in the opening quarter to cut the deficit to two.
• Sam Sasaki opened the second quarter scoring at the 4:58-mark and kick-started a five-goal run for the Sagehens. The run bridged halftime and saw the home team take a 9-2 lead with 4:40 to play in the third. Sophomore Paul Gensbigler put a temporary halt to the run with a man-up goal just four seconds later.
• Once again, Pomona answered with a run. This run saw the Sagehens score four goals in a two minutes span to take a 13-3 lead into the final period.
• Senior Jayden Kunwar scored a five-meter goal to open the fourth, but it was answered by an Andrew Plaschke goal for Pomona. Gensbigler and freshman Christopher Lo scored back-to-back goals late in the quarter to make it a 14-6 game and that's how the game would end.
 
How it Happened • Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
• Claremont jumped out to a 2-0 lead before senior Jake Pearson found the back of the cage midway through the first. Ben Weldon answered for the Stags with 48 ticks on the clock to give CMS a 3-1 lead after one.
• Christian Thornton pushed the lead to three with 3:26 to go in the second, but sophomore Liam Housenbold responded just 27 seconds later and it was a 4-2 game at the half.
• Claremont scored the first two goals of the third quarter to push out to a 6-2 lead. Freshman Ian Raley got one back for Hopkins, scoring with 3:31 to go. Just 14 seconds later however, Weldon scored for the Stags to put the home team up 7-3 through three.
• Kyle Ballack and William Thomas each scored for the Stags in the fourth to give Claremont the 9-3 win.
 
What it Means
• Hopkins falls to 5-7 all-time against Pomona-Pitzer as the Sagehens win their fourth straight in the series.
• The Blue Jays slip to 7-9 against the Stags with Claremont winning its second straight against Hopkins.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Gensbigler led the Blue Jays with a pair of goals against Pomona while Lo and Kunwar had two points (1g, 1a) each.
• Freshman Kyle Pearson played all 32 minutes in the cage and finished with 14 saves and four steals. Senior Emerson Sullivan also had four steals, to go with two drawn ejections and an assist.
• Against the Stags, Kyle Pearson made 13 saves to turn in his third double-digit save performance in his third complete game of the season.  
 
Up Next
• Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, October 1 against seventh-ranked Redlands (10:15 am PT) and fourth-ranked Whittier (2:00 pm PT).