Contributed by Clinton Dodd and Josh Moser
The Caltech Men's Water Polo Team banished the demons of a long losing streak to the Alumni team on Saturday, rushing out to a 7-0 lead and never looking back. Not even the presence of All-American Henry Dewitt (Class of 1968) back for his first alumni game in over a decade could lift the former Techers, as Jack Blackwood (Jr) led the charge for the Varsity team, scoring a team-high five goals, including four in the decisive first quarter and a half. Tim MacDonald (Jr) and Dan Sexton also found the net early for the current Beavers who took a 4-0 lead into the first break.
While the Alums missed a penalty chance early in the second, it was again the kids who took control. Blackwood sandwiched the first of Captain Adam Khan's (Sr) goals to stretch the score to 7-0 before All-American Eagle Jones (class of 2001) found the net. Jerome Skelly (FY) scored his first collegiate, albeit non-competitive, goal next, before Matt Higbie (2001) and Jim Radford (1987) closed the gap heading into halftime at 8-3.
A rousing half-time speech by Coaching Alum Clinton Dodd fired up the troops, and the Alumni came out firing in the third period. Jim Radford scored three more of his five goals in the period, but Dan Sexton (Sr) matched his hat-trick, while Blackwood, Khan and MacDonald all found the net as well. Finally, Austin Mayron (FY) joined Skelly in getting into the scorebook for the first time. Eagle Jones scored a pair more in the fourth as the alums kept their spirits and hopes of a come-back high, but it was a day for youth to triumph. Zack Gomez (Sr) scored for the Varsity team before CJ Culpepper (FY) opened his scoring account with the Beavers on a sweet cross-cage high corner blast.
The list of alumni present was long and esteemed, and made for a fun and competitive game. Coach Moser's record now stands at 1-3 against his predecessor, Coach Dodd.
Tom Tisch, '61
Henry DeWitt, '68
Maybory Tyson, '70
Chris McKinnon, '83
Reed Burkhart, '84
Paul Graven, '85
Brian Suggs, '87
Alan Kulawik, '93
Jim Radford, '93
Tom Daula, '01
Matt Higbie, '01
Eagle Jones, '01
Peter Siedel, '05
Tom Oliver, '09
Peggy Allen, '11
Ryan Newton, '11
Kati Peters, '11
