Live stream: Sydney Uni Lions take on Victorian Phoenix in vital Australian Water Polo League clash

The Lions are cruising toward the Australian Water Polo League finals while the Lionesses may have bought a quick reprieve thanks to a Spanish superstar. See the REPLAYS from Monday’s double-header.

Spanish superstar Clara Espar exploded on a rare Monday morning showdown to eliminate the Victorian Phoenix from Australian Water Polo League finals contention.

The Olympic silver medallist was at her brilliant best for the Sydney Uni Lions, putting away six goals as the Lions ran away with a comfortable 15-5 win at the Peter Montgomery Pool.

WATCH THE WOMEN’S REPLAY ABOVE, SCROLL DOWN FOR THE MEN’S REPLAY

Espar was laser focussed from the outset as the Lions blazed out of the blocks with a six-goal opening term which included a hat trick to the Spaniard.

Kali Canale added a steal and a goal of her own in what was a dynamic opening term from the Sydney side.

While the Phoenix managed to muscle up defensively through the middle stages, and even reduced their rivals to just two goals in the second term, after the main break it was all the Lionesses.

A three-goal shutout in the final term was enough to settle the match, as the Lions prepare for a ripping battle with Drummoyne in the middle of the AWL table.

In the men’s division, the Sydney Uni Lions are on the fast track to the AWL finals after a 21-8 demolition of Victorian Phoenix on Monday morning.

Young gun Ashton Brown was impressive in the middle of the pool for the Lions picking up five goals, including a final quarter double.

Replay: Sydney Uni Lions v Victorian Phoenix (Men)

Lucas Young scored four goals in the 13-point rout, with the Lions scoring 18 goals across the opening three terms before cruising to victory.

The win capped off a dominant weekend in the water for the Sydney Uni side who won four games in four days, with back-to-back double headers against Adelaide Jets and the Phoenix. The Lions won the matches by a combined 71-32.

The Lions are entrenched in the top five teams in the men’s draw and will enjoy a week’s reprieve before a heavyweight clash against table-toppers Drummoyne in Round 25.

PREVIEW

While there’s still a lot of goals to hit the back of the net before the finals, it’s becoming increasingly hard to look past another Sydney victory in the men’s Australian Water Polo League.

Entering the pivotal five-day stretch of the competition currently in play, the Sydney teams - Drummoyne, UNSW, Sydney Uni, Balmain and Cronulla - occupied the top five spots.

It’s coming up to eight years since the UWA Torpedoes became the last interstate club to taste title success.

Sydney Uni have two five-game win streaks

Drummoyne and Balmain are chasing history as first-time winners while Cronulla haven’t won it since the year the Sharks were last NRL minor premiers (Clue: it was the year before Andrew Ettingshausen retired).

UNSW Magpies and Sydney Uni are old title hands.

The Lions continue their campaign towards a first title since 2017 when they take on Victorian Phoenix at Peter Montgomery Pool on Monday.

It’s the final two games of a busy period of 10 exclusively LIVE games in five days on KommunityTV.

Check out the LIVE STREAM schedule below.

While the clubs sit at polar opposite ends of both the men’s and women’s ladders, they do share a passion for the streak.

Take Phoenix’s men’s side for instance.

Remember when they won their first game 26-25 in an incredible penalty shootout that still ranks as one of the games of the season.

Well, it took 35 days before they could celebrate a second, an 11-9 success over Queensland Thunder last weekend inspired by three goals each to Daniel Magasanik and Lachlan Barclay.

Can Sydney Uni women charge home to secure a finals spot?

Their 11-game losing run is the highest of any team, bar ..... the Phoenix women’s team.

Before their Friday/Saturday games against Hunter Hurricanes, they had not tasted victory in 14 games.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Sydney Uni Lions men’s team have got to their lofty perch by bunching wins together. Two lots of five-game streaks has set a nice platform for the rest of the season.

The defending champion Lionesses have only got near that level of consistency in the loss column so far this season, and are subsequently in danger of missing out on the finals altogether.

While they still have time to make Cronulla and UNSW above them sweat it out, they realistically have to win a big portion of their last eight games to get there.

Interestingly, going into a weekend of four games, the Lionesses hold the fifth best defensive record. Five of their eight defeats have also been by three goals or less.

Originally published as Live stream: Sydney Uni Lions take on Victorian Phoenix in vital Australian Water Polo League clash