Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
REDLANDS, Calif. – The Whittier College Women's Water Polo team opened up the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships Friday afternoon with a decisive 13-8 victory over Occidental College.
The Poets who entered the Championships as the Top seed has now earned a spot into the semi-finals after taking out the Tigers who held off Caltech in the play-in game earlier in the day.
The win marks the second year in a row the Purple & Gold have found themselves in the semi-final game as they extend their winning streak to ten games and a 24-7, 9-0 SCIAC record.
Whittier has put together the most impressive single season campaign in program history and has solidified the most wins in a single season and are the hottest team thus far in the SCIAC Championships.
The Poets outscored Oxy 3-0 in the first quarter with goals coming from Isabella Gorrocino (East Los Angeles, Calif.) and Cynthia Castillo (Los Angeles, Calif.) and they rolled from there. Jenel Rivera (Whittier, Calif.) and Zyania Morales (Commerce, Calif.) added another two in the second quarter giving WC a 4-2 at the break.
In the second half, the Poets poured it on adding six in the third quarter all coming from six different players. This extended the lead to 10-4 and they didn't look back as they took their foot off the gas pedal en route to adding another three in the final eight minutes, while seeing reserves get some quality playing time.
Caitlin Bronzan (Brentwood, Calif.) was rock solid in goal collecting six saves, while Rivera totaled four goals on the game.
Whittier takes on the No. 5 seed Chapman University tomorrow, Saturday, April 23 in the second semi-final beginning at 3:30pm.
