Hosted by the University of Redlands at the beautiful Thompson Aquatic Center, the 2016 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Women's Water Polo Championships kicked off on Friday and featured only one upset among the five opening-round matches, resulting in three of the top-four seeds advancing on to Saturday's semifinals.
No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges vs. No. 5 Chapman University:
The closest match of the day came in the final showdown, which featured the No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Athenas and the No. 5 Chapman University Panthers. The teams traded scores throughout the first two quarters, with neither squad gaining more than a one-goal lead.
Down by one, Chapman came out of the halftime break with new energy. The Panthers fired off three-straight goals while keeping CMS scoreless, which led to a slight 7-5 advantage for the No. 5 seed. Senior utility player Alison Quincy (San Ramon, CA) got hot at just the right time, as she was responsible for the third-quarter hat trick.
The momentum continued for the Panthers, as senior utility player Kate Avery (Lafayette, CA) extended the lead to three with her first goal of the game.
Although CMS' freshman Tess van Hulsen (Palo Alto, CA) answered with a netter less than two minutes later, Chapman gained Quincy's sixth goal of the game, which served as the game-winner.
Freshman attack player Grace Schade (Fullerton, CA) added to the Panthers' lead to make it 10-6 with 1:05 remaining, before CMS rallied for late scores by sophomore attack player Roxy Kiessling (Honolulu, HI) and sophomore attack player Jessica Gaffney (Santa Barbara, CA).
Sophomore goalkeeper Mariah Mastrodimos (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) recorded five saves for the Athenas. Chapman's sophomore Kerry Goodspeed (Northbrook, IL) provided five saves in the first half, before graduate student Alyssa Welfringer (Huntington Beach, CA) took over in the second half for four saves.
No. 8 Occidental vs. No. 9 Caltech:
The first day of competition began with the No. 8 Occidental College Tigers squaring off against the No. 9 Caltech Beavers in a play-in game. The Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead through one period and never looked back en route to a 16-7 win over the Beavers. Senior utility player Lizzy Kosin (La Grange Park, IL) initiated the hot start for Oxy by notching the team's first goal less than two minutes into the action. The Tigers gained scores from a variety of other players throughout the scoring spurt, with junior utility player Carly Zurcher (Elkins Park, PA) notching two in the opening frame.
Although Oxy continued to cruise, Caltech put together its biggest scoring stretch during the fourth period, as the Beavers closed out the game on a 4-1 run. Senior center Stephanie Wong (Palos Verdes Estates, CA) and freshman utility player Brittany Percin (Moraga, CA) each provided two scores in the final eight minutes.
Senior utility player Soumya Kannan (Palo Alto, CA) led the Beaver offense with a hat trick, while Oxy gained individual, three-goal efforts from Zurcher, Kosin, and junior attack player Amanda Akiyama (Watsonville, CA).
Junior goalkeeper Anna De Groot (Sunnyvale, CA) patrolled the Oxy cage while making seven saves. The Beavers also gained seven saves, with freshman goalkeeper Elise Cutts (Portland, OR) and Wong splitting time.
With the win, Oxy moved on to face the top-seeded Whittier College Poets in the fourth game of the day.
No. 3 La Verne vs. No. 6 Redlands:
During the second game, the No. 3 University of La Verne captured a 13-9 victory over the No. 6 University of Redlands to earn a spot in Saturday's semifinal game. The Leopards stormed out to a 4-1 start and held off a late push by the Bulldogs to earn the win.
La Verne opened the game by scoring on back-to-back possessions, with junior center Megan Little (Orange, CA) and junior utility player Stephanie Rosero (South Gate, CA) each finding the back of the net. After Redlands pulled one back with a netter by senior utility player Taylor Christie (Anaheim, CA) the Leopards built a 4-1 lead with goals by freshman attack player Guarina Garcia (Caroline, Puerto Rico) and Rosero.
However, the Bulldogs rallied to cut the deficit to one a 3-4 with a tag-team effort by senior attack player Annie Kinney (Newport Beach, CA) and freshman utility player Rachel Nelson (San Juan Capistrano, CA).
But the Leopards quickly responded with a 5-0 run that resulted in a comfortable advantage through the midway point of the game.
A three-goal showing in the third period was highlighted by ULV's Garcia, who fired off two more scores to make it 11-4.
Nonetheless, Redlands refused to go away and put together a 5-2 run in the final eight minutes. Freshman attack player Sabrina Scoggin (Ashland, OR) initiated the effort, while sophomore attack player Rachel Haney (Redmond, OR) and freshman utility player Kolby Kahahawai (Kailua, HI) recorded two goals apiece. .
Redlands utilized a pair of freshman goalkeepers, as Allison Totzke (San Bernardino, CA) and Carmen Gardner (San Jose, CA) joined forces for 11 total saves.
For La Verne, junior Cambria Serrano (Torrance, CA) provided a 10-save showing in a complete-game effort.
No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer vs. No. 7 Cal Lutheran:
Amidst a defensive battle that featured outstanding saves and quality steals by both squads, the No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens used a strong third quarter to pull away for the 7-3 win over the No. 7 Cal Lutheran University Regals. With the win, Pomona-Pitzer heads to Saturday's semifinal against the No. 3 Leopards of La Verne.
In today's third game, junior Sagehen goalkeeper Ahsha Earwood (Los Angeles, CA) and senior Regal goalkeeper Gina Merry (West Hills, CA) did an amazing job of limiting the scoring through the first half of competition. At the midway point of the game, Pomona-Pitzer held a slight 2-1 advantage with a goal apiece by junior center Christina Williamson (Mercer Island, WA) and freshman center Kyla Pickell (Irvine, CA).
During the halftime intermission, Head Coach Alex La made the necessary adjustments for the Sagehens to put up four scores in the third period, providing the difference in the otherwise tight match. Sophomore attack player Morgan McCracken (Atherton, CA) initiated the run, before freshman attack player Anna Yu (Santa Clara, CA) made it 4-1 on the ensuing possession. Although Cal Lutheran gained a big-time goal from senior utility player Amanda Jones (El Dorado Hills, CA) to cut the deficit to two, the Sagehens continued to roll with back-to-back scores later in the period. Sophomore utility player Jocelyn Castro (Pico Rivera, CA) and junior defender Chessa Burke (San Diego, CA) stepped up for Pomona-Pitzer.
Leading by a score of 6-2, the Sagehens successfully managed the clock with long possessions to stay ahead for the win. Jones registered her second score of the game for Cal Lutheran, while Castro uncorked the final goal of the game for Pomona-Pitzer, resulting in the 7-3 tally.
With multiple impressive stops, Merry racked up 10 saves in the Regals' loss. Earwood tallied five for the Sagehens.
No. 1 Whittier vs. No. 8 Occidental:
Similar to the first three games of the day, top-seeded Whittier College garnered an early lead and stayed in front through the duration, earning a 13-8 win over No. 8 Occidental College. The Poets now look forward to competing in Saturday's semifinal match against Chapman.
Whittier put up three unanswered goals in the first period, as highlighted by back-to-back scores by senior attack player Cynthia Castillo (Los Angeles, CA).
During the second frame, the Tigers out-scored the Poets with a 2-1 run to cut the deficit in half. Zurcher and sophomore utility player Hi'ipoi Lee (Honolulu, HI) unleashed scores to make it 2-4 at the midway point of the game.
However, Whittier quickly adjusted in the subsequent quarter by firing off six goals by five different players. Junior attack player Isabella Gorrocino (East Los Angeles, CA) got things started for the Poets with a goal at the 7:36-mark. The momentum continued with junior attack player Arlin De La Mora's (Commerce, CA) first score of the game. After the teams traded netters over the next two possessions, the Poets benefitted from three-straight goals, with another from Gorrocino, and one apiece from senior attack player Angelica Hernandez (Pico Rivera, CA) and sophomore attack player Kendyl Riley (Huntington Beach, CA).
Following a Tiger score by Kosin, the Poets finished out the frame with a netter by freshman attack player Anastacia Gonzalez (Montebello, CA).
Down by six goals, the Tigers rallied for a strong fourth quarter that saw them out-score the Poets by a 4-3 margin, as highlighted by a pair of netters by Kosin.
De Groot remained solid in the cage for the Tigers, racking up 10 saves in a complete-game effort. For the Poets, junior goalkeeper Caitlin Bronsan (Brentwood, CA) recorded six saves in three periods of action. Junior Katia Montoya finished out the contest for the Poets while making one save.
For box scores and Saturday's complete schedule, please visit the tournament page.