Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
PASADENA, Calif. – The Whittier College women's water polo saw their two game losing skid snapped Sunday morning as they held on for the 8-7 victory over La Verne in the SCIAC Championships.
At the conclusion of the Championships, Whittier finishes in 3rd Place with an overall record of 7-4 SCIAC.
Whittier saw themselves trailing 3-1 at the end of the first quarter despite scoring the first goal of the contest from Jae Crabtree. They mounted a comeback however outscoring the Leos 4-1 in the second quarter to take a 5-4 lead into the half. Goals came from Melanie Peel, Laurel Pinkley, and Monique Dorado with one coming off of a 5 meter and the other three coming off of man up situations.
Out of the half, La Verne tallied the first goal to even the game at five before the Poets would add two unanswered from Pinkley and Crabtree that helped WC lead 7-6 after three quarters of play.
In the fourth the defense came into effect with each team adding a goal. ULV tied the game up at seven 1:12 into the frame but with 1:43 to play in the game the Purple & Gold' Natalie Halvorsen-Herrera connected on her first goal of the game, which proved to the eventual game winner
Between the posts, Mattie Winkler finished with six saves with three coming in the second quarter.
Whittier closes out 2013 with a 17-19 overall record and a 7-3 SCIAC record one of their best finishes in recent years. They lose Alyssa Rangel who was their lone senior but Head Coach Justin Pudwill looks to continue making major strides in the SCIAC rankings next season as he welcomes back a ton of young talent.
