FULLERTON, Calif. - The Concordia University Irvine men's water polo team captured its first win of the season at the Titan Invite. The Golden Eagles faced off against Air Force and Cal Lutheran, ultimately, going 1-1 on the first day of the tournament.
The first Concordia goal against Air Force, sealed the 100-goal milestone for Harry Bentham. The junior scored the goal on a powerplay within the first few minutes of the match. Harry Bentham was recently named First Team All-American and was the sole player nominated to First Team All-WWPA for the 2023 season. Bentham has officially become the 7th men's water polo player to score 100 goals in the DII era.
Spreading the wealth, Bentham sent the ball to Kai Young who tied the score 2-2 with his own goal. Konstantinos Koulouris and Thomas Kelly stepped up as well. The Golden Eagles and Falcons went goal for goal and ended the first period, 4-4.
Concordia kept the momentum moving in the second. Strong performances came from Luke Addington, Kaliq Khan, Stan De Mey, and Jacob Stuart. Konstantinos Koulouris was the offensive leader for Concordia with an impressive four goals. The graduate student also had three assists and a steal during the game. After calling a time-out, Air Force managed to get two goals in to capture the lead. The Green and the Gold kept close to the Falcons until the fourth period. Air Force broke away from Concordia, outscored them by four goals, and took the win CUI 14 - AF 20.
The second match of the tournament proved to be more fruitful for Concordia. Another milestone was hit by the Golden Eagles. Jacob Stuart beat the school record with the 57th assist of his career in the DII era. He also was the first to score against the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen.
By halftime, Concordia had blazed ahead of the Kingsmen, making it CUI 7 - CLU 5. Carlos Olat was a force to reckon with against CLU. He captured three goals overall. Throughout the game, Griffin Beth held off the Kingsmen with an impressive ten saves. Cal Lutheran may have stopped Concordia's offense in the fourth and captured three goals, but it wasn't enough to stop the Golden Eagles from winning 13-10.
This marks the first victory for the 2024 Concordia men's water polo team, making their overall record 1-6.
The Green and the Gold are just getting started! Saturday, Sept. 14 is the second and last day of the Titan Invite. Concordia closes out the weekend against Chapman at 1 p.m. and Cal State Fullerton at 5 p.m.
To see the FULL Concordia men's water polo team schedule, CLICK HERE.
