Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Feb. 26, 2022) – Junior defender Ally Burke (Las Vegas, Nev. / Bishop Gorman) of the Whittier College women's water polo team continually found openings against Ottawa University (AZ) in Saturday's women's water polo home opener, scoring four times to lead the Poets to a 13-9 victory over the Spirit.

Burke's four goals would make all the difference for the Poets, who got an unlikely early-season test from a tough Ottawa team. While Whittier would start the game slow adjusting to the physicality Ottawa brought to the table, they eventually hit their stride with a combined nine goals in the middle periods to bury the visitors. The Spirit actually opened the game with a one-goal lead, but a quick answer from senior attacker Natasha Velez (La Habra, Calif. / Cypress College) quickly flipped the momentum back the Poets' way before another quick goal from Burke, the first of her four, would stake them to a lead they would never relinquish. Velez would go on to finish with three goals to her name, combining with Burke to make up more than half of her team's tallies for the game.

The Poets' need to settle into the tone of Saturday's game also extended to the defensive side of the ball, where the Spirit challenged the Purple & Gold's goalkeeping duo early and often. Senior Lauren Tapia (Whittier, Calif. / Rosary) and freshman Alexys Puche (Whittier, Calif. / Rosary) split time equally in net and made two saves each, performing well enough to keep the visitors at bay. Ultimately, however, the Poets had the Spirit outgunned, outshooting the visitors to the tune of 33-18. Additionally, one-third of the visitors' goals came on the powerplay, so while the Poets have some things to clean up, they earned their third win of the season in a somewhat convincing fashion regardless. The Poets also assisted on more than half their goals, with freshman Emily Flores (Newbury Park, Calif. / Newbury Park) and senior Teresa Marchetti (Messina, Italy / Liceo La Farina) picking up two apiece.

Head Coach David Kasa and the Poets will look to bag another SCIAC win when they travel to the University of La Verne on Wednesday, Mar. 2 at 7 p.m.

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