The University of Redlands women's water polo team continued its busy slate of competition with two matches on Wednesday at the Thompson Aquatic Center. The Bulldogs held the Caltech Beavers scoreless for three periods en route to an impressive 12-1 win in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action before falling to Hartwick College (NY) by a score of 11-17.
Against the Beavers, Redlands jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead with a solid first-period showing. Junior defender Stefanie Goldbach (Huntington Beach, CA) initiated the offensive outburst, while junior attack player Alea Weber (Haiku, HI), sophomore center Kolby Kahahawai (Kailua, HI), and sophomore attack player Wendy McAleer (Simi Valley, CA) added to the scoring power.
The second stanza saw much of the same, as the Bulldogs doubled their lead with another 4-0 run. This time, Kahahawai, sophomore attack player Breanna O'Dea (Rowland Heights, CA), and freshman attack player Olivia Allen (Santa Monica, CA) bolstered the offense. On the other end of the pool, sophomore goalkeeper Allison Totzke (San Bernardino, CA) patrolled the Redlands cage to keep the Beavers off the board by making just two saves.
The Maroon and Gray cruised through the final two quarters of the game with a 4-1 run to seal the dominating win. Sophomore center Carmen Gardner (South San Francisco, CA), freshman attack player Samantha Lopez (Lakewood, CA), and freshman attack player Courtney Gray (Yucaipa, CA) each found the back of the net as new Bulldog contributors.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Grosswendt (Newbury Park, CA) completed the stellar defensive effort with six saves in the final two periods.
Redlands battled Hartwick in the second game of the day but saw an early lead slip away, which resulted in an 11-17 loss to the Hawks.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the first period, as sophomore utility player Rachel Nelson (San Juan Capistrano, CA) launched a shot past the Hartwick goalkeeper for the early lead. After the Hawks equalized the score, O'Dea put the home team in front with 19 seconds to go on the first-period clock.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Hartwick heated up in the second stanza by uncorking seven goals to overtake Redlands by a score of 8-5 at the midway point of the match.
From here, the Maroon and Gray fought to play catch-up but never fully recovered.
Nelson led the Bulldogs with her five-goal outburst. Allen and Kahahawai each scored twice. Sophomore goalkeeper Katelyn Jenkins (Bellevue, WA) stepped up in the cage during the first two periods by making eight stops.
Redlands (7-17, 2-1 SCIAC) hosts Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday, April 1, for an important SCIAC match at 11 a.m. at the Thompson Aquatic Center.