PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech men's water polo team capped off its season on Saturday morning as the team battled the No. 1-ranked Sagehens from Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.

The Beavers wrapped up the year with a valiant, seven-goal effort but ultimately could not overcome the nation's top-ranked Division III squad.

The program honored graduate student utility Andrés Heredia (San Diego / Francis Parker) prior to the contest as he took the pool for his final career game. Heredia put in an excellent performance against the Sagehens' exceptional defense, tying for the team high in points with a pair of assists and one goal.

Caltech had a slow start in the first half of the match but picked it up as the game went on. The Beavers' first goal came from sophomore attacker Alexi Stapf (Santa Barabara, Calif. / San Marcos) after sophomore attacker Justin Hong (Pasadena, Calif. / Pasadena) fed his classmate a perfect pass.

The team adjusted at halftime and found some rhythm in the second half. Sophomore utility Axel Haydt (Austin, Texas / Westlake) and first-year attacker Maxwell Woodruff Vale (Austin, Texas / Liberal Arts and Science Academy) each buried a goal in the third period of play with Heredia logging the assist on both scores. The grad student rattled the back of the cage one last time after receiving the pass from Stapf at the 3:18 mark of the period.

The Beavers tied the top-ranked team, 3-3, in the third quarter.

Caltech continued to apply pressure on the Sagehens in the final period of the game; just over a minute into the period, Haydt dished a pass over to sophomore attacker Joshua Braun (Bakersfield, Calif. / Garces Memorial) who finished off the play with a goal. Play continued until the final minute as Hong got on the board with a shot that beat the keeper after getting fed inside from Stapf. In the game's final seconds, first-year attacker Maxwell Woodruff Vale (Austin, Texas / Liberal Arts and Science Academy) found first-year utility Carl Crum (San Carlos, Calif. / Sacred Heart Preparatory), who put a soft touch on a shot that floated over the keeper's reach for the final score of the Beavers' season.

Seven different Beavers recorded one goal while Heredia and Stapf led the way in assists with two apiece. Heredia finishes his only season at Caltech with 16 goals and 12 assists; he drew over 30 exclusions and recorded nine steals to go with six sprint wins on nine attempts.

The squad showed its resilience in its final match and brought the same high level of energy that they played with all season long. Head coach Jon Bonafede will now shift his main focus over to the Caltech women's water polo team, who will kick off their season at home on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 11 a.m. against UC Irvine Club.

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