Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College women's water polo team swept the competition Saturday taking wins over Division I Brown (11-8) and the Virginia Military Institute (10-8) at the Lillian Slade Aquatic Center.
The Purple & Gold continue to put together one of the most impressive single season performances as they look to repeat as Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champions as they improve to 16-7, 2-0 SCIAC.
With the two wins the Poets have now won three of their last four and four of their last six.
Game 1 (Brown; W, 11-8)
It was all Whittier in the first quarter as Cynthia Castillo (Los Angeles, Calif.), Arlin De La Mora (Commerce, Calif.), and Angelica Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif.) would put WC in front 3-0.
In the second though they would struggle finding the back of the net as Brown would rally with three of their own forcing the game into a tie at the break.
The third became a back and forth battle with the lead changing on three different occasions but Whittier managed to hold a one-goal lead 7-6. Then in the fourth, both teams would swap goals early to keep the deficit at one but midway through Jenel Rivera (Whittier, Calif.) and Zyania Morales (Commerce, Calif.) would add back to back man-up goals that helped give the Poets some cushion.
This would be all they would need as Lindsay Shoaff (Costa Mesa, Calif.) would seal the victory with another extra-man opportunity with :13 seconds left to play.
Hernandez led the offense with three goals, while De La Mora and Rivera each had two. Caitlin Bronzan (Brentwood, Calif.) picked up the win between the posts and finished with seven saves.
Game 2 (VMI; W, 10-8)
The nightcap proved a low scoring affair for both teams. The previous time these two teams met was back on March 19 where the Poets pulled out a 15-12 victory during the LMU Zumo Invite.
The Purple & Gold got off to a hot start with three unanswered from Isabella Gorrocino (East Los Angeles, Calif.), Anastacia Gonzalez (Montebello, Calif.), and Hannah Ellett (Merced, Calif.). The Poets led 4-2 after the first quarter and stretched the lead to 6-2 with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter but would go cold soon after allowing VMI to go on a 5-0 run that stretched into the third.
Trailing 7-6 at the end of three quarters the Poets found themselves in a tough situation but Head Coach Justin Pudwill rallied the girls and put in his starting six, which in turn turned the momentum back with the Poets.
Whittier quickly added four straight from Castillo, Rivera, Gonzalez, and Hernandez moving the score to 10-7. This gave WC enough cushion despite one more goal being added by the Keydets, which wasn't enough as Whittier held on for the two goal victory.
Bronzan and Katia Montoya (Riverside, Calif.) split the goalie duties. Bronzan finished with three saves in the first quarter and Montoya picked up four.
Whittier returns to their conference schedule this Wednesday, March 30 when they host Pomona-Pitzer in a repeat of the 2015 SCIAC Championship game beginning at 7:00pm.
