Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 26, 2022) – Defense took center stage on Sunday afternoon as the Whittier College women's water polo team held its own with a pair of tough Division I programs in Cal State Northridge and Brown University as part of a two-match day at the Whittier Mini.
Game 1: Cal State Northridge 8, Whittier 7
The Poets had the opportunity to play in two competitive games with two battle-tested teams thanks in large part for their ability to create problems for the CSUN shooters. The Poets' play in front of goalkeepers Lauren Tapia (Whittier, Calif. / Rosary) and Alexys Puche (Whittier, Calif. / Rosary) allowed both netminders to be aggressive, ultimately combining for three steals to go with three saves apiece. After the Matadors took a 2-1 lead in the first quarter, the Poets were able to keep themselves within striking distance just long enough before eventually outscoring the visitors with a 4-3 fourth quarter. All of a sudden, the Poets began to find more openings in the CSUN defense, and junior Ally Burke (Las Vegas, Nev. / Bishop Gorman) took full advantage with a team-leading four goals. With Burke's backing, among others, the Poets were able to draw even with the Matadors at 7-7, and appeared prime to give the Division I foe all they could handle in overtime, however a spectacular shot from the visiting goalkeeper coming off a timeout brought those hopes to an abrupt halt. Still, with the Poets ultimately winning the turnover battle and performing at as high of a level as they had all season, they were able to bring a helping of momentum into Sunday' second game.
Game 2: Brown 9, Whittier 4
Whittier had a slightly tougher time with the Brown Bears, who defeated CSUN earlier in the day. The difference ultimately proved to the Poets' inability to generate takeaways at the same clip they did in Game 1, with the Brown offense having already found a nice rhythm coming off the win just a few hours prior. This time, the Poet netminders would see increased action, as Tapia and Puche combined to make 13 stops on the Bears, enabling the Whittier attack with enough chances to put a goal in the board in every period. Burke led with two goals, bookending successful tallies from teammates Grace Arnsparger (Long Beach, Calif. / Long Beach Millikan) and Bryanna Santis (Commerce, Calif. / Fullerton College). The Poets can take solace, however, in the fact they held the Bears to significantly fewer goals than SCIAC foes University of La Verne (15) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (2), who played Brown on Monday afternoon.
Head Coach David Kasa and the Poets will hit the road for their next game, the first of six SCIAC games to close out the regular season. They will meet the University of Redlands on Wednesday, Apr. 30 at 7 p.m.
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