It was almost a remarkable come-from-behind victory for the men’s water polo team, but it still lost with one minute remaining to the Pasadena City College Lancers, 9-8.

The Warriors will look to improve in their next game as they host South Coast Conference rival Mt. San Antonio College Wednesday at 4:15 p.m.

Last week, the Warriors started off poorly and trailed 8-2 at halftime, but battled back to tie the game with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Just before entering overtime, the Lancers scored the winning goal with one minute left.

“It was an exciting, but hard way to go out,” coach Corey Stanbury said.

It was a tale of two halves for the goalie, defense and offense.

“The first quarter I started off slow, but by the second quarter, I just got into it,” goalie Spencer Wheeler said. “I was just trying to do my best; I was a little more focused in the last three quarters.”

The defense followed his footsteps as they made major adjustments at halftime, switching defense positions to cover the Lancers’ top players, which resulted in nearly two scoreless quarters.

“After halftime, it was like a whole different team,” Stanbury said. “We started cracking down on them, and our goalie blocked some shots.”

The Warriors offense, led by freshman Brian Kohler, started clicking in the third quarter and scored six unanswered goals. Kohler ended the game with five goals but was very disappointed with the loss.

“We are a better team than they are,” Kohler said. “If we ever happen to play them again, we will win.”

The team played Cerritos College yesterday, but scores were unavailable at press deadline.