Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 9, 2022) – The Whittier College women's water polo team found its form late against Occidental College, circumventing a tough Tigers effort to run its SCIAC record to 3-0 on the young season. The Poets have now won seven of their previous eight games.

Though the attacking opportunities were prevalent early, the Poets needed to overcome a combination of bad luck and uneven execution to overcome a game Tigers squad. In spite of this, the defense did its job in holding the visitors to just five goals. Junior Ally Burke (Las Vegas, Nev. / Bishop Gorman) found herself at the center of the effort with four steals, and her ability to turn the Tigers over helped make opportunities for the Poets in transition in the third quarter that would eventually ice the game for the home team. The Poets needed to overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit but were able to take solace in the fact that they too held their opponent to just two goals or less. Once the third period began, the Poets utilized their superior swimming to create four goals in transition, two of which came off the right hand of Burke. The junior finished the game with four goals, marking the first time this season a Whittier player has had four goals and four steals in the same game.

Whittier's goalkeeping duo of Lauren Tapia (Whittier, Calif. / Rosary) and Alexys Puche (Whittier, Calif. / Rosary) held strong between the pipes, combining for nine saves and five of the home team's 24 steals as a team, also a season-high. Junior Grace Arnsparger (Long Beach, Calif. / Long Beach Millikan) and freshman Emily Flores (Newbury Park, Calif. / Newbury Park) each had a pair of goals, with Arnsparger joining Burke in wreaking havoc within the Poets' transition offense. 

Head Coach David Kasa and the Poets would look to continue to assert themselves against the rest of the conference when they travel to defending champion Pomona-Pitzer Colleges for an 11 a.m. game.

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