PASADENA, Calif. — Neil Sanderson scored three times, while Steven Csaposs, Alexander Wang, Matthew Hajjar and Austin Harvard each accounted for pairs as host the California Institute of Technology eluded Washington & Jefferson College, 13-11, at Braun Pool.
The Beavers went ahead 1-0 and 2-1 before pushing out to a 5-1 margin with 4:06 left in the first quarter. Washington & Jefferson rallied back with five consecutive markers to push ahead 6-5 by the conclusion of the opening frame.
Caltech tied the contest at six-all with 4:17 on the second quarter clock, W&J reacquired the lead at 7-6 with 3:16 remaining and the Beavers notched the tying strike at 2:50 to make it seven-all closing in on halftime.
The Beavers went back in front at 8-7 with 40 ticks on the clock prior to the teams exchanging tallies over the remaining time in the first half – including a buzzer-beater by Harvard with one second left – to allow Caltech to enter intermission with a 9-8 lead.
The game turned in the third quarter as Caltech ticked off a pair of scores in the third quarter to pull ahead 11-8.
The margin grew to 13-8 with 2:36 left in the fourth quarter prior to back-to-back markers by Anthony Ames (Fr., Canyon County, Calif./Canyon), Cam Spicer (So., Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) and Will Kitsch (So., Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin) with 2:021, 1:25 and 42 seconds remaining, respectively, moved the Presidents within a pair at 13-11. However, the clock ran out on W&J’s comeback bid to allow the Beavers to escape with a two-goal win.
For Caltech, James Bowden and Rahul Arun also pushed across scores with Bradley Justice (three saves, eight goals against in first half) and Wei Foo (three saves, three goals against in second half) taking care of the cage.
Spicer led the W&J offense with three goals, while Robert Koch (So., Worcester, Pa./La Salle College), Ames and Andrew Edwards (Fr., Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) each chipped in pairs. Kitsch and Elijah Muzzi (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) both found the back of the cage once.
The duo of starting goalie Caine Dusa (Fr., Souderton, Pa./Souderton) (one save, five goals against) and Zishuo Ma (Fr., Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos) (four saves, eight goals against) combined to handle netminding duties for the Presidents.
