The No. 1 ranked Lions reached the title match with an 11-9 win over No. 2 ranked University of California – San Diego Saturday evening in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Men's Collegiate Club Championship at the Trees Hall Fitness Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

The two squads played evenly through the first period, each putting four markers on the scoreboard.  The defense made an impact in the second quarter as Lindenwood shutout the Tritons while scoring twice to take a 6-4 advantage to halftime, but UC – San Diego quickly erased that deficit in the third quarter with three straight goals to overtake the Lions 7-6.  Lindenwood countered quickly to even the match at seven, but the Tritons edged in front again, only to see the Lions tie it and then go ahead 9-8 with just 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter. 

Early in the final quarter, UC – San Diego made the most of a man-advantage chance to knot the score at nine with 4:41 left in regulation, but a successful penalty shot and man-up score sealed the victory for Lindenwood.

Jamie Gambin and Marc Tahull led the Lions with three goals each, followed by Vuk Budrak with two.  Mateo Lema, Marino Chorro, and Mitch Griffin had single tallies in the contest.  Marcel Farres registered seven saves in goal.  Special teams were key as Lindenwood scored five times on nine man-advantage chances while holding the Tritons to just two goals in nine chances. 

With the win, Lindenwood advances to the title match on Sunday and positions itself for possible back-to-back championships and five crowns in the last six years.  The Lions will face No. 3 ranked University of Southern California Sunday at 12:45 p.m. at the Trees Hall Fitness Center in Pittsburgh. The Trojans advanced with a 10-5 victory over No. 5 ranked Utah.

Earlier Saturday morning, Lindenwood handled No. 9 ranked Michigan State 14-6 in the quarterfinals.  The Lions jumped to an early lead with five unanswered goals in the first quarter and built the advantage to 9-1 by halftime.  The two teams matched scores the rest of the way with Lindenwood keeping the Spartans at bay to seal the victory. 

Lema and Chorro led the Lions with four goals each and Griffin, Andreas Miranda, Budrak, Nikola Vukic, Gambin, and Guillermo Aguirre added single markers.  Farres faced a barrage of shots, but stopped 10 of them to earn the win in the cage.  In a penalty filled affair, Lindenwood scored three times on 12 man-advantage chances while Michigan State succeeded four times in 15 opportunities.