MERCED, Calif.--- Biola Men's Water Polo used an eight-goal fourth quarter to pull away from UC Merced on Saturday afternoon, securing a 16-9 victory at the UC Merced Aquatics Center and improving to 2-0 in WWPA play.
The Eagles established control early behind Noah Ryznar. The sophomore opened the scoring on a five-meter penalty before Ryder Imbriani converted another penalty opportunity to make it 2-0. Ryznar added an extra-man goal late in the quarter, and Ryan Previch closed the period with a power-play score to give Biola a 4-1 advantage after one.
Caden Digby extended the lead with a five-meter penalty early in the second quarter. UC Merced answered with two straight goals to pull within 5-3, but Ryznar struck with 31 seconds remaining to send the Eagles into halftime ahead 6-3.
The Bobcats cut the deficit to two early in the third, but Biola responded late in the period. Xander Trevitt and Isaac Demski scored just 13 seconds apart to push the Eagles' advantage to 8-4 heading into the fourth.
Biola broke the game open in the final eight minutes, scoring three times in the opening 1:30 of the quarter. Kyle Seifen started the run before Jake Burns and Imbriani followed to give BU an 11-4 lead.
The Eagles kept the pressure on as Carson Crocket, Ryznar and Demski found the back of the cage to extend the advantage to 14-5. UC Merced answered with four straight goals, but Crocket stopped the run on the power play before Ryznar closed out the scoring with 31 seconds remaining.
Ryznar finished a perfect five-for-five from the field, bringing his season total to 73 goals. He now sits second in Biola's single-season record book, just three behind Maxwell Osborn's program mark of 76 set in 2023.
Imbriani added two goals and a team-high three assists, while Demski recorded two goals and an assist. Crocket scored twice, Burns finished with a goal and two assists and Trevitt added a goal and an assist. Landon Heuer also handed out two assists.
Nine different Eagles scored and six recorded an assist as Biola converted 16 of its 25 shots. The Eagles also finished with five power-play goals and three five-meter penalty goals.
Biola collected 13 steals on the defensive end, while freshman Maddox Levandusky went the distance in the cage for the second consecutive match. Levandusky recorded nine saves over all 32 minutes and added a steal.
Biola improved to 6-13 overall and 2-0 in WWPA play. The Eagles return to action Friday, Oct. 17 against MIT at the Harvard Invitational in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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