WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 8, 2024) – The Whittier College women's water polo team played its sixth and seventh game in the first eight days of March on Friday night at the annual Whittier College Mini Tournament. The Poets first took on a lofty challenge in Division I foe University of Saint Francis (PA) before hosting Minnesota Division III school Macalester College in the nightcap.
Saint Francis 16, Whittier 6
The early game saw the Poets take on the Red Flash and post mixed results against a team of Division I caliber athletes. Whittier had its best moments on the counter, which junior
Chloe Gardhouse (Agoura Hills, Calif / Agoura) helped start with three steals over the 32-minute game.
Collectively, the Poets started slow after being just days removed from an emotional back-and-forth SCIAC affair with the University of La Verne, but eventually found better form and made things happen on the offensive end. Junior
Emily Flores (Newbury Park, Calif. / Newbury Park) led with a pair of goals, and the Poets went on to out-shoot the Red Flash, 22-16. In spite of this, the hyper-efficient Saint Francis offense proved to be one challenge too steep for the Poets to overcome.
Macalester 10, Whittier 8
The Poets had a much better go of things against Macalester, riding multiple momentum shifts en route to another competitive game. Just when it looked like the Poets were poised for another slow start, they turned the tables on a first-quarter goal from senior
Allyson Patrikian (Simi Valley, Calif. / Royal), followed by a penalty shot goal from junior
Haley Kivett (Beaverton, Ore. / Southridge). The Poets went on to score each of the next couple goals until Macalester found its biggest run of the game.
At this point in the game, six minutes into the third quarter, junior
Margarita Moreno (Hacienda Heights, Calif. / Los Altos) took on the offensive burden for the Poets, earning a pair of hustle goals, which would be followed by two more from Gardhouse around the end of the third period and the start of the fourth. Gardhouse's third and final goal of the game put Whittier up one with seven minutes to play, and the Poets nearly doubled their after a shrewd move from their head coach. With Whittier staring down the barrel of a great opportunity off a Macalester foul, Head Coach
Preslav Djippov called a timeout that negated a missed Poets shot and change of possession, affording his team another offensive opportunity. While the Poets were unable to execute and the Scots dug back into the contention, they nearly regained the lead late in the fourth.
Moreno, on another hustle play in front of the Macalester net, nearly tipped in the go ahead goal, which would have seen the Poets take a 9-8 lead with 2:44 to go in regulation. Instead, Macalester struck again, though the Poets' defense generally kept them within striking distance all game. Sophomore goalie
Candace Tezak (La Habra, Calif./ La Habra) made a handful of great saves that turned heads in the stands, and has performed well since recently returning to the lineup.
Djippov and the Poets will have some time to rest before resuming their 2024 SCIAC schedule against SCIAC contender Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in Claremont on Wednesday, Mar. 13.
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