The University of Redlands women's water polo team traveled to Whittier College for the opening day of the 2014 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament on Friday. The Bulldogs, who are seeded fifth, battled it out with fourth-seeded Cal Lutheran University and captured an exciting 11-10 victory over the Regals in dramatic fashion.
After junior center-defender Tricia Bannister (Naperville, IL) put Redlands on the board just 60 seconds into the game, the Bulldogs faced a three-goal deficit by the 7:44-mark of the second frame. The Maroon and Gray looked to junior center-defender Deandra Van Houten (Huntington Beach, CA) and freshman driver Grace Cochran (Danville, CA) to join forces for four unanswered goals, which led to a 6-5 advantage.
However, Cal Lutheran responded with an offensive run of its own, earning an 8-6 lead midway through the third period.
But the Bulldogs stepped up with a pair of netters to tie it up once more, as Van Houten and Cochran capped off their respective hat tricks for the day.
The teams traded scores twice more, knotting the tally at 10 apiece with 3:27 left in the final period. After both squads called timeout, Redlands found a way to win with just 10 ticks left on the clock, as senior center Jaci Cochrane (San Bernardino, CA) fired off the game-winner.
Senior goalkeeper Julie Lupfer (San Diego, CA) patrolled the Redlands cage by making four stops.
With the win, the Maroon and Gray advances to the semifinal round of the SCIAC Championships to face top-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Redlands (13-19, 5-4 SCIAC) hopes to avenge its one-goal loss to the Sagehens from April 2 when the squads battle it out tomorrow at Whittier College. Fans may follow the action via live-streaming at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/whittier.portal.