Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Whittier College women's water polo team faced a tough Division I schedule this past weekend during the SDSU Invite going winless against Indiana (15-3), San Diego State (11-5), Bucknell (11-7), and Wagner (14-8).
Whittier remains at No. 1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Polls (CWPA) but has dropped their fifth straight contest, all coming against Division I opponents.
Game 1 (No. 16 Indiana; L, 15-3)
In the first evermatch-up between these two programs, the Hoosiers topped the Poets 15-3 with a hat trick coming from Shelby Taylor. The Purple & Gold trailed 3-0 at the end of the first and saw the deficit move to 8-0 at the half. Whittier's three goals came in the third quarter from Zyania Morales (Commerce, Calif.) and Angelica Hernandez (2) but Indiana would add another seven over the final 16 minutes that propelled them to the victory.
Game 2 (No. 12 San Diego State; L, 11-5)
In the nightcap of day one the Poets took on host San Diego State. The Aztecs scored four goals in the first period and three in the second to take a 7-1 lead into the break. Whittier held SDSU to just four goals in the second half and added four themselves but it wouldn't be enough to top the Aztecs.
Game 3 (Bucknell; L, 11-7)
On day two of the Invite, Whittier proved a tough task for Bucknell University. The Purple & Gold grabbed an early 3-2 lead after the first quarter with goals from Isabella Gorrocino (East Los Angeles, Calif.), Cynthia Castillo (Los Angeles, Calif.), and Jenel Rivera (Whittier, Calif.).
Despite two goals from Arlin De La Mora (Commerce, Calif.) in the second quarter the Bison bounced back to tie things up at five at the break.
The game remained deadlocked at six midway through the third when the Bison started their late surge. They received a goal early in the fourth that put them in front by two. Rivera would add her second of the game that pulled Whittier within one at 8-7 but that's as close as they would get as Bucknell would add three late en route to the four goal victory.
Caitlin Bronzan (Brentwood, Calif.) started in goal and finished with five saves.
Game 4 (No. 17 Wagner; L, 14-8)
In the last match-up of the Invite the Poets took on Wagner for the second time in less than a week. The previous time these two teams met the Poets fell 15-8.
Whittier netted the first goal off a strike from sophomore attacker Gorrocino after a slow paced start to the contest. Wagner ripped off four of the next five goals of the first stanza to take a 4-2 lead after the first quarter.
Two goals early in the second quarter from Doerfler and a second from Rodriguez coupled with a Whittier strike (De La Mora) had the game at 6-3 in favor of Wagner at halftime.
The Poets were outscored 4-2 in the third quarter with goals coming from Morales and Gorrocino but the Seahawks would rattle the cage four more times in the fourth that secured the 14-8 victory.
Whittier returns to the pool at home tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18 as they host Macalester at 10:00am. They then travel out to Redlands in the afternoon to begin Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) competition as they on the Bulldogs beginning at 4:00pm.
