Men’s water polo edged by OUAZ in Saturday’s season finale

MERCED, Calif. – Trailing 4-1 to Ottawa (AZ) after the first quarter of Saturday's Cal Pac / NAIA Tournament match at UC Merced Aquatics Center in Merced, California, Cal Maritime scored four goals in the third quarter and outscored the Spirit, 2-1, in the final quarter to pull within striking distance in its final round robin matchup, but OUAZ managed to barely hold onto its early lead to defeat the Keelhaulers, 16-12, in CSUM's final match of the 2023 season.

Kevin Kraatz ended that contest with a game-high seven goals, on 12 shots, and earned a pair of assists to finish with nine points. Connor Wadhams scored a pair of goals and recorded a hat trick of assists to end his day with five points against a OUAZ squad that swept its round robin games to earn a berth in Sunday's championship match.

The Spirit will square off against Westcliff, the opponent in CSUM's inaugural contest of the Cal Pac / NAIA Tournament.

In Friday's tournament opener, the Warriors secured a 26-5 victory prior to the Keelhaulers' matchup against host UC Merced in a game the Bobcats won by a 20-12 result.

Ottawa (AZ) 16, Cal Maritime 12

Cal Maritime Scoring
Kevin Kraatz 7, Connor Wadhams 2, Marcos Ortega, Ethan Osorio, Matthew Turecek 1

Ottawa Scoring
Roebuck 4, Farrier, Gyde Marshall, Misky 2, Santos-Cantu, Tauer, Vargas, Wong 1


UC Merced 20, Cal Maritime 12

Cal Maritime Scoring
Ian Healy, Matthew Turecek 3, Kevin Kraatz 2, Austin Hochadel, Marcos Ortega, Ethan Osorio, Armando Valenzuela 1

UC Merced Scoring
Pezold 6, Jones 4, Nguyen, Petersen 3, DeMello, Ladeairos, Lopez, Soto 1


Westcliff 26, Cal Maritime 5

Cal Maritime Scoring
List of goal scorers unavailable at the time of this release

Westcliff Scoring
List of goal scorers unavailable at the time of this release