Riverside, Calif. - Junior Sarah Westcott (pictured) broke a 10-10 tie with her fifth goal of the game with 1:19 left in regulation to give the Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team an 11-10 win over Azusa Pacific on Friday afternoon to split two matches at the Lancer Invite.
With the split, the Sagehens are now 4-2 on the season with three one-goal wins, defeating Concordia 11-10 and Redlands 8-7 in the previous two weekends.
In the first match, Cal Baptist scored the final goal of the first half to tie the score 6-6 and scored the first seven goals of the second half to pull away for a 14-7 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Friday morning.
The Sagehens trailed 10-8 going into the fourth quarter, but freshman Hope Grant found the back of the net to pull Pomona-Pitzer within a goal with 6:50 left. Just under two minutes later, Westcott scored her fourth of the match to knot the score up at 10-10 with 4:51 on the clock.
Freshman goalie Ahsha Earwood had three saves in the fourth quarter without allowing a goal to keep the Cougars stuck at 10, and Westcott was able to break the tie with 1:19 to play, which held up as the game-winner.
Westcott also came up big in the first quarter, twice scoring after Azusa Pacific built three-goal leads to stem the momentum. The Cougars still took a 6-3 lead into the break, and Chrissie Alving-Trinh scored the first goal of the second half and junior Carter Grant scored another key goal to cut the lead to 7-5.
Junior Alyssa Woodward brought the Sagehens all the way back to even at 8-8 with 2:38 left in the third, but Azusa Pacific scored the final two goals of the stanza to make it 10-8. However, the Cougars would not score again
Woodward led the way for Pomona-Pitzer with four goals, including the lone tally for the Sagehens in the second half with 4:42 left in the fourth quarter to end the 8-0 run.
Sophomore Megan Snow added two goals for Pomona-Pitzer, including one late in the second quarter to give the Sagehens a 6-5 lead, while junior Chrissie Alving-Trinh had one. Hannah Evans had three goals for Cal Baptist, while four other players had two apiece.
Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action on Saturday on day two of the Lancer Invite, facing Fresno Pacific and a rematch with Redlands.
