Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography

CLAREMONT, Calif. (May. 8, 2022) – The Whittier College women's water polo team saw its stellar 2022 season come to an end on Mother's Day afternoon, coming up short to SCIAC champion Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the inaugural USA Water Polo Division III National Championship game despite putting up a tremendous fight against the top-ranked program in the nation.

Whittier entered Sunday's game coming off an important win over Austin College in Saturday's semifinals, a game where the Poets took some time to find their footing before turning on the jets late in the second quarter. For a period of time, it looked as if Sunday's game might follow the same pattern with Pomona-Pitzer jumping on an early lead that forced an offensive response out of the Poets. The response came on a goal from senior Natasha Velez (La Habra, Calif. Cypress College), who capped off a stellar weekend for the Purple & Gold by scoring the first two Whittier goals of the championship game. As the game progressed, both teams settled into a more defensive game than what was presented earlier on with the Poets making several big blocks in front of the net to help freshman goalkeeper Alexys Puche (Whittier, Calif. / Rosary). Puche, who once again played all 32 minutes, made 10 saves in the strongest game of her career to date and had the necessary help from the players in front of her to make that happen.

"I've talked about how defense wins championships with this team, and this is the best defense we've shown," Head Coach David Kasa said. "I was super proud of the four or five stops we had in the first half. We did have trouble getting the offense going and missing shots, but I think that's normal when you're tired. To get home late like we did and to come back the next morning and win a championship, it just seemed like the legs weren't there with us missing just ever so slightly but I am super proud of this team and what they've accomplished."

The Sagehens' powerplay had been near unstoppable against Division III and SCIAC opponents this season, but the Poets did a tremendous job of killing off Sagehen powerplays on eight different occasions, leaving the home team with a .273 success rate against their own .250 percentage on the man advantage. One such stop came when senior Teresa Marchetti (Messina, Italy / Liceo La Farina) intercepted a Pomona-Pitzer pass across the cage to get the Poets started on a counter-attack of their own. The superb defense led to just two Sagehens goals over the middle periods as the Poets looked to trim the deficit late in the game.

Senior Amelia Bennett scored her second goal of the game to lead off the final period of play, making it a 6-4 game with seven minutes to play. However, the Sagehens were able to get a quick answer of their own before surrendering a goal to senior Alex Lopez (Boyle Heights, Calif. / Fullerton College) on the very next possession, drawing Whittier back within two. Lopez would score again on the powerplay in the game's final seconds, but all the while the Sagehens were able to successfully melt the clock away with long, drawn out offensive possessions to hold off Whittier in a game that took on a significantly more defensive nature than the previous three meetings between the two teams. 

"We played well and covered for each other," Marchetti said. "We left it all out in the pool."

Kasa's Poets won 17 games in their first full season of action since 2019, a tremendous credit to the team's foundation and leadership across the board. Of those 17 wins, 10 came against SCIAC opponents and the Poets were able to finish the 2022 season as both SCIAC and Division III runner-up despite having to go on the road in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament. While the Sagehens were able to run the table against conference and Division III competition, the Poets gave them three of their four toughest challenges of the season this year with each game having inherent differences from the last. This year's women's water polo team showed they can win physical games just as well as tactical games, while competing with the bigger players and deeper rosters that Division I presents as well. They will now enjoy the upcoming offseason before heading back to the drawing board in advance of spring 2023.

"I think what made this team special is we came in not really knowing how each other played," senior Bryanna Santis (Commerce, Calif. / Fullerton College) said. "To overcome that and to get where we are now, we're all really grateful for the experience."

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