Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College women's water polo team wrapped up their 2013 regular season this past Saturday by edging the Panthers of Chapman University 7-6 to earn the No. 3 seed in the SCIAC Championships.

Whittier currently has a record of 16-17, 6-2 SCIAC finishing with one of their strongest regular seasons in recent years.  They held a six game winning streak from March 26-April 6 getting quality wins against Siena, Redlands, and Cal Lutheran during the stretch, while going 5-0 in SCIAC action.

Prior to the game, Head Coach Justin Pudwill and the rest of the aquatics program recognized their lone senior Alyssa Rangel who was taking part in her final home game of her collegiate career.

The Purple & Gold jumped out in front quickly with three goals in the first quarter of play from Cynthia Castillo, Monique Dorado, and Jae Crabtree.  The Poets would continue their streak by adding their fourth goal of the game 48 seconds into the second frame from Laurel Pinkley before CU mounted their comeback adding two unanswered to pull within two.  On the ensuing possession Whittier would find the back of the goal once more for their fifth goal of the game from Castillo right before Chapman would come down to add back to back goals to pull within one at 5-4.

With under two minutes to play in the half, Whittier's Crabtree managed to put the Poets back up by two with a goal and that would be enough to give WC the two goal lead at intermission.

Out of the break, both teams made a defensive stand combining for three goals all coming in the third quarter.  Whittier opened up the scoring with a goal from Sabrina Carlile at the 3:43 mark before Chapman would go on 2-0 run that pulled them within a goal for the second time.

No exclusions were called in the fourth quarter as both teams kept each other scoreless allowing Whittier to hold on for the one goal victory securing the No. 3 seed. 

The Poets look to make a deep run in the SCIAC Championships set to take place this weekend from April 26-28 with all games being played at Pasadena City College.  The seeding's and schedule are listed below:

Seeding's

1. CMS (7 Pts, 7-1)

2. Pomona-Pitzer (6 Pts, 6-2)

3. Whittier (6 Pts, 6-2)

4. Cal Lutheran (5 Pts, 5-3)

5. Redlands (5 Pts, 5-3)

6. Occidental (4 Pts, 4-4)

7. Chapman (2 Pts, 2-6)

8. La Verne (1 Pts, 1-7)

9. Caltech (0 Pts, 0-8)

Schedule

Day 1 - April 26th

# 1          1:00 pm - La Verne vs. Caltech

# 2          2:30 pm - Pomona-Pitzer vs. Chapman

# 3          4:00 pm - Whittier vs. Occidental

# 4          5:30 pm - Cal Lutheran vs. Redlands

# 5          7:00 pm - CMS vs. Winner #1

Day 2 - April 27th

# 6          1:00 pm Loser 2 vs. Loser 1 (Consolation play-in)

# 7          2:30 pm Winner 2 vs. Winner 3 (Semifinals)

# 8          4:00 pm Winner 4 vs. Winner 5 (Semifinals)

# 9          5:30 pm Loser 2 vs. Loser 5 (Consolation)

# 10        7:00 pm Loser 3 vs. Winner 6 (Consolation)

Day 3 - April 28

# 11        10:00 am Loser 9 vs. Loser 10 (7th Place)

# 12        11:30 pm Winner 9 vs. Winner 10 (5th Place)

# 13        1:00 pm Loser 7 vs. Loser 8 (3rd Place)

# 14        2:30 pm Winner 7 vs. Winner 8 (Championship)