The University of Redlands women's water polo team embarked on day two of the 2017 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament at the University of La Verne on Saturday morning. The Bulldogs topped the Caltech Beavers in their first match of the day by a score of 14-4 but fell in a heartbreaker to Chapman University, 8-9.
After trading opening scores with the Beavers, the Maroon and Gray fired off seven-straight goals to take a commanding 8-1 lead by the midway point of the second quarter. Junior attack player Michelle Na (Mercer Island, WA) served as Redlands' playmaker by dishing out three assists, while junior defender Stefanie Goldbach (Huntington Beach, CA) uncorked back-to-back scores as the only Bulldog with more than one goal during this stint.
Redlands closed out the second period with a 2-1 run, as freshman attack player Courtney Gray (Yucaipa, CA) and sophomore attack player Sami Walker (Taylorsville, UT) found the back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 10-2 lead.
The Maroon and Gray continued to roll in the final two periods, with Walker completing a hat trick and sophomore centers Kolby Kahahawai (Kailua, HI) and Carmen Gardner (South San Francisco, CA) each scoring their second netters of the game en route to the 14-4 win.
Sophomore driver Katelyn Jenkins (Bellevue, WA) added a goal and two assists for the Bulldogs. Junior attack player Alea Weber (Haiku, HI) finished the game with two assists, while sophomore goalkeeper Allison Totzke (San Bernardino, CA) provided two saves.
During their second game of the day, the Bulldogs battled until the bitter end of an 8-9 loss to Chapman Panthers. Redlands faced a 2-4 deficit through two quarters of action and continued to trail in the third by a score of 5-7. Kahahawai stepped up by providing three goals through three stanzas of tight competition.
After Chapman extended its lead to 8-5 at the start of the final frame, sophomore utility player Rachel Nelson (San Juan Capistrano, CA) took matters into her own hands by firing off three-straight goals to tie it up at eight with 36 seconds to go.
Unfortunately, Chapman mustered the game-winning goal with five ticks left on the clock to send Redlands home with a difficult loss.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Grosswendt (Newbury Park, CA) patrolled the Bulldogs' cage by making five saves in a valiant effort.
Redlands (9-23, 4-7 SCIAC) faces Occidental College in the seventh-place match on Sunday, April 23, at 10 a.m.