LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Due to a reschedule of the University of La Verne game from a couple weeks ago the University of Redlands Women's Water Polo team was forced to play two games Saturday against Caltech and La Verne, both on the road.
The Maroon and Grey came away with a split on the day beating Caltech 8-1 before dropping a tight 11-9 decision to the University of La Verne. After going 3-1 at the Claremont Convergence and winning four of their last five the Bulldogs drop to 4-6, 1-3 SCIAC.
Game 1 (Caltech | W, 8-1)
It was one of the lowest scoring games of the season with the Bulldogs posting eight goals. But that was enough as their defense was on point limiting Caltech to just one goal on 16 shots. A big 1st Quarter with four goals from Katrina Nielsen (Houston, TX), Holly Kvanvig (Beaverton, OR), and Courtney Sawin (Tacoma, WA) opened things up for UR and they didn't look back as they put up another two goals in the 2nd Quarter from Kaitlynn Pierceall (Beaumont, CA) and another two in the second half from Tori Zielinski (Sunnyvale, CA) and Pierceall.
Zielinski played 24:00 minutes in goal and finished with a shutout and eight saves along with a steal. Kvanvig found herself between the posts for the first time this season playing the final 8:00 minutes and finishing with a stop and an assist.
Redlands took 25 shots (.320) and was 1-for-2 on power plays.
Game 2 (La Verne | L, 11-9)
Following their morning contest Redlands then traveled to Las Flores Pool in the afternoon to take on the Leopards, a make-up game from an earlier match-up when the game was postponed due to equipment failure.
Six goals were scored across the opening eight minutes with ULV holding the two-goal advantage. They added the first two of the game before Emma Parker (Yucaipa, CA) tallied her first of the contest at the 6:13 mark. Kvanvig then followed on the next possession for the Maroon and Grey finding the back of the net to level the match. But it was the Leopards the rest of the quarter tacking on another two to regain the lead.
Both teams found the back of the net three times in the 2nd Quarter as the offenses continued to fire on all cylinders. Sydney Sereg (Fullerton, CA) got the scoring started in the period answering inside set and after seeing the deficit move to three Nielsen and Christine Chua (Arcadia, CA) responded with a pair of tallies that kept it a two goal game at the break.
It was a defensive battle in the 3rd Quarter with just one goal being added for both teams. It was back and forth across the first four and a half minutes until Breanna Bailey (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) connected for UR that moved the score to 7-6. ULV though was able to answer on their next trip down the pool as they moved it back to a two-score game.
In the 4th, Redlands tried to play catch-up with Parker connecting :20 seconds in to cut the deficit to one and then firing another one past the keeper at the 4:24 mark to keep the Bulldogs in striking distance. But ULV always had a response stretching the lead back to three with 1:24 left and despite Nielsen tacking on a last second goal it wouldn't be enough as La Verne would hold on for the two-goal victory.
Redlands took 23 shots for the game (.391), was 0-for-5 on power plays and totaled 12 exclusions. Parker posted a three-goal effort, while Nielsen added a pair. Zielinski played all 32:00 minutes between the posts and finished with 14 saves and a .560 save percentage.
Redlands has a short turn around as they are set to face Claremont-M-S, tomorrow, Sunday, March 13 beginning at 11:00am.