Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier women's water polo team snapped its four game slide Saturday afternoon as it picked up a pair of wins of La Verne and Chapman to run its season record to 11-16.
The Poets (2-3 SCIAC) the day with a 10-5, conference, win over the Leopards at the La Verne Aquatics Center.
Whittier led 2-1 after one quarter and used a 4-1 spurt in the second stanza to put the game away. Laurel Pinkley scored what proved to be the game winner with 52 seconds remaining before the intermission.
The Poets found the back of the cage three more times in the third frame and added one goal in the final quarter en route to the five goal win.
Pinkley scored two goals in the second frame while Katrina Thoreson recorded WC's first two goals of the contest.
Melissa Reynoso recorded a hat trick with a goal in each the second, third and fourth quarters.
Whittier trailed for a mere 12 seconds before it found the equalizer at the four minute mark of the first quarter.
The purple and gold finished the regular season 3-0 against La Verne.
In the night cap of the double header, Whittier jumped out to a 4-0 halftime lead on Chapman and never looked back. Veronica Becerra started the scoring at 6:35 of the first and fellow senior Xenia Castillo made it 2-0 with a goal at the 48 second mark.
The defense kept the Panthers off the board in the second quarter and goals from Castillo and Melanie Peel gave the Poets a comfortable halftime lead.
Chapman got on the board early in the second half but Thoreson quickly answered at the 7:04 mark of the third to keep the lead at four goals. A quick answer from Chapman trimmed the lead to three but Reynoso and Becerra made it 7-2 as the Poets outscored CU 3-2 in the third quarter.
The teams traded goals in the final period as the Poets went on to the five-goal victory.
Sara Wolff and Alexandria Talley scored in the final eight minutes.
Whittier will return to action on Wednesday, April 20, for a 5 pm showdown with Pomona-Pitzer.
