WHITTIER, Calif. – Day 2 of the 2012 SCIAC Women's Water Polo Championships came to an end Saturday afternoon with the top seeds in Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands advancing to the Championship Game, while Whittier upsets La Verne.
Game 1 (Whittier – 7, La Verne – 2)
The Poets again began the SCIAC Championships on Day 2 with a 7-2 upset victory over the Leopards of the University of La Verne. Whittier got on the scoreboard first with a 5 meter goal from Samantha Pudwill and capped off the quarter with back to back goals from Katrina Thoreson and Katie Vazquez.
Coming out in the second Bethie Ross stopped the run to pull the Leopards within one but saw Whittier run their lead to 7-1 adding four goals in a ten minute span led by Thoreson who added two goals in the third. La Verne did however add a second goal late with 1:30 left in the fourth but it wasn't enough as they dropped their first decision to Whittier on the season.
Game 2 (Cal Lutheran – 18, Caltech – 3)
Cal Lutheran jumped ahead early 1-0 in the first but saw Caltech's Hannah Dodd capitalize on an exclusion that evened the score at 1-1. But from there Cal Lutheran added three straight goals to extend their lead to 4-1 until Caltech jumped back on the scoreboard thanks to a 5 meter goal from Dodd pulling the Beavers within two. From there Cal Lutheran went on a 14-0 run behind ten different scorers.
The Regals had five girls add two goals apiece including Mieke Howell, Kehau Ai, Kelsey Bergemann, Shannon Streeter, and Jordan Card.
Game 3 (Redlands- 7, Occidental – 6)
In a game that featured strong defense and fierce play the Bulldogs of Redlands were able to pull out the 7-6 victory over Occidental that came down to the final minute of play.
Redlands jumped out in front 2-0 with goals from Holly Hollinrake and Jamie Nippert but saw the momentum turn as the Tigers rattled off back to back goals from Tessa Bailey-Findley and Corrine Casey that evened the score up at 2-2 after one quarter of play. Coming out in the second both squads swapped goals early, while Occidental gained their first lead of the contest 4-3 going into the half capped off by a man up goal from Nanea Fujiyama.
In the third tempers began to flare as the Occidental College coach was charged with a yellow card, while Redlands' Julie Lupfer and Occidental's Bailey Findley were charged with penalty's each resulting in goals for their respective teams. During this third quarter Occidental managed to take a three goal lead with 3:26 to go but with 1:17 remaining Redlands Moana Tuipulotu added her first goal of the contest to pull the Bulldogs within two.
In the final stanza Redlands received a quick goal from Nippert that pulled them within one and capitalized off of a man up situation on the ensuing possession to even the score up at 6-6 with 4:04 to go. Down the stretch both teams had opportunities but Redlands was the only one who was able to find the back of the goal as Tuipulotu collected her second goal of the game that proved to be the eventual game winner.
Game 4 (Pomona-Pitzer – 8, Claremont-M-S – 7)
In the final game of the day the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer and the Athena's of Claremont-M-S, the top two teams in the Championships put on a display that came down to the wire and proved to be a Championship Style game with the fans from both teams getting energized throughout.
It was a game that saw six ties and three lead changes led by Pomona's Oxborough-Yankus and Claremont-M-S's Toohey who each recorded three goals apiece. Pomona jumped out in front 1-0 in the first but saw Claremont-M-S steal the momentum with a 4-1 run to close out the frame.
In the second Pomona picked up their defense and added two goals within the sixth minute that pulled them to a 4-4 tie and could have gained the lead after the Occidental Head Coach was charged with a yellow card but was unable to capitalize off of the man up situation. To open up the third Pomona's Prater-Fahey added her first goal of the game to put the Sagehens up 5-4 but it was short lived as CMS's Davis capped off the quarter with a 5 meter goal that tied the game up at 5-5.
In the final stanza a combined five goals were scored, which included two ties. Pomona was able to take two leads in the quarter early but lost both of them and finally got the eventual game winner at the 1:59 mark thanks to a 5 meter goal from Oxborough-Yankus. The Athena's had a couple good opportunities late to tie but was unable to get a good look on goal allowing the Sagehens to escape with the one goal victory.
Sunday's match-ups
1. Game 9: 10:00am No. 6 La Verne vs No. 8 Caltech (7th Place)
2. Game 10: 11:45am No. 4 Cal Lutheran vs No. 7 Whittier (5th Place)
3. Game 11: 1:30pm No. 3 Occidental vs No. 5 Claremont-M-S (3rd Place)
4. Game 12: 3:15pm No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer vs No. 2 Redlands (1st Place)
