FULLERTON, Calif. — The No. 18-ranked Brown University men’s water polo team moved to 8-2 on the season as the Bears split their final two games at the Fullerton Mini Tournament with a 12-11 sudden death overtime loss to host California State University-Fullerton and a 19-9 management of Division III No. 9 California Lutheran University.
In the the early game, Cal State Fullerton found the back of the net first, but Roland Csendes tied the score shortly after, followed by another quick goal from Dominik Balla in the opening minutes. Csendes scored his second strike of the game before the end of the first quarter as the teams exited the opening frame knotted at three-all.
The Bears out-scored the Titans in the second quarter as Colton Bell and Griffin Tunney scored back-to-back to help Brown acquire a 5-4 halftime margin.
Mac Berry opened the second half with two quick goals, and Jaxson Tierney helped extend the lead to 8-4. Fullerton answered back with a pair of markers, but Balla found the back of the net with 44 seconds left in the quarter to stake the Bears to a 9-6 lead after three quarters of action.
The Titans scored four goals in the final eight minutes to take the lead, but Balla tied the game with 1:44 left to play in regulation to level the damage at 10-all and force overtime.
The Titans buried the inaugural tally in the first overtime, but Csendes answered back in the second OT frame to complete a hat-trick. However, Cal State Fullerton posted the deciding blow with 2:12 on the clock in the sudden death stretch as Denes Dobi finished a feed from Samuel Branco.
Dimitrios Kratimenos made 11 saves for the Bears in the sudden death loss.
Brown dominated California Lutheran in its second game of the day. Ramzi Megalli and Trey Rogers each found the back of the net in the first quarter along with Balla, Csendes and Tierney to build a 6-3 lead. Filip Josipovic, Csendes and Berry each scored one a piece in the second quarter to hold onto the lead.
The Bears controlled the second half by out-scoring the Kingsmen 10-to-four in the final 16 minues. Csendes tallied three more goals for a total of five in the contest, while Tunney recorded a hat-trick in the third quarter.
Kratimenos stopped seven shots prior to first-year Santiago Soza making his collegiate debut in the final quarter to close out the victory.
Information courtesy Brown University Athletics Communications
