On Senior Night at the Thompson Aquatic Center, the University of Redlands women's water polo team used a total-team effort en route to blowing past Caltech, 21-2. The Bulldogs used a variety of players in the win that saw the squad put up a season-high mark for goals scored.
Prior to the start of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest, both senior goalkeeper Julie Lupfer (San Diego, CA) and senior center Jaci Cochrane (San Bernardino, CA) were honored in a pregame ceremony for all of their accomplishments on the Redlands women's water polo team throughout their respective careers.
Once the contest began, Redlands was firing on all cylinders offensively, scoring two goals inside of the first two minutes. The opener came from sophomore driver Annie Kinney (Newport Beach, CA), while junior center-defender Deandra Van Houten (Huntington Beach, CA) found the back of the net for the second goal.
Not long after, the Bulldogs doubled that lead, and then with just under four minutes remaining in the opening period, sophomore driver Taylor Christie (Anaheim, CA) scored Redlands' fifth goal of the game.
The Maroon and Gray closed out the first quarter strong, as Kinney tacked on two more and junior center-defender Tricia Bannister (Naperville, IL) added the final score of the period to make it a 9-0 Bulldog lead.
In the second stanza, freshman center Madison Andres (Princeton, NJ) ripped a nice shot past the Caltech goalkeeper to put the Bulldogs up 10-0.
The U of R continued to roll, and Cochrane wrapped up the first half with a goal to put the home squad up at the break, 14-0.
In the third period, freshman driver Ginger Carlson (Hilo, HI) tallied her second of the contest to give Redlands a 15-0 advantage. While Caltech did pull one back, the Maroon and Gray responded with three-consecutive scores to take an 18-1 lead into the final stanza. One of those goals came from sophomore driver Jessica Steinbach (San Jose, CA).
Redlands closed out the final stanza strong, and freshman driver Yasi Nassiri-M (Evanston, IL) got her name on the score sheet with a nifty goal late.
On the night, Kinney led the way for the Bulldogs offensively with four goals, while Carlson added a hat-trick. Freshman driver Rashel Alvarez-Zakson (Santa Monica, CA) tallied two goals, as did Andres, Cochrane, and Steinbach. In addition, Van Houten finished the contest with one goal, while Christie, Bannister, Nassiri-M, freshman driver Meghan O'Sullivan (Campbell, CA), and freshman driver Grace Cochran (Danville, CA) all did as well.
In goal during her final game at the TAC, Lupfer finished with four saves. Additionally, sophomore goalkeeper Alma Lopez (Northridge, CA) came in and played valiantly, racking up six saves on the evening.
Redlands (11-19, 3-4 SCIAC) returns to action on Saturday morning when it travels to the University of La Verne to take on the Leopards. The conference contest is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
