Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
REDLANDS, Calif. – The Whittier College women's water polo opened up their 2013 campaign splitting at the Redlands Mini-Tournament on Sunday falling to Redlands 11-5 before prevailing in sudden death overtime 15-14 over CSU San Bernardino.
The Poets were without starting goalkeeper Mattie Winkler that forced Ajita Harrison to start between the posts and she finished the day tallying 16 saves (5 against Redlands, 11 against CSUSB).
Game 1 (Redlands; L, 11-5)
The first game of the Redlands Mini-Tournament pinned the Poets and Bulldogs against each other once again for the second straight year and the Bulldogs proved to be too much offensively down the stretch as they used a 7-1 run to open up the first three quarters before cruising to the six goal victory.
Whittier got on the scoreboard with 18 seconds to play in the second quarter thanks to freshman Monique Dorado who added three goals for the game with two coming in the final quarter. She was joined by Hayley Parker and Emma Sakuda who each added goals in the fourth quarter.
Game 2 (CSU San Bernardino; W, 15-14 – SD-OT)
In the second game of the tournament, Whittier saw a seesaw battle and an exhilarating sudden death overtime thriller take place against the Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino. After leading 9-7 going into the final period, Whittier saw CSUSB add five goals in the fourth stanza to even the game up at 12-12, which forced overtime.
In the first overtime, CSUSB out-scored the Poets 2-1, but Whittier fought back to force sudden death by adding a goal from Sabrina Carlile that forced the game into a sudden death golden goal situation. With 2:10 to play in the extra period, Parker came down with a man-up situation and found the back of the net that gave the Purple & Gold their first victory of 2013 15-14.
Whittier saw both Laurel Pinkley and Cynthia Castillo add four goals apiece, while Dorado, Melanie Peel, and Jae Crabtree recorded one each.
Whittier returns to action Saturday, February 9 when they travel to Cal State San Bernardino to take part in the CSUSB Mini-Tournament. Here they will take on Fresno Pacific and Cal State San Bernardino once again with game times set for 10:00am and 1:00pm, each respectively.
