THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The Pomona-Pitzer women's water polo team won their first game in the Tina Finali Invitational with a 6-5 win over Villanova and fell in their second game against Cal State East Bay 7-6.
The Sagehens and Wildcats ended the first quarter with a 2-2 tie as sophomore Jocelyn Castro and sophomore Morgan McCracken both tallied goals for Pomona-Pitzer early on.
Pomona-Pitzer took over the game in the second as they outscored Villanova 3-1. McCracken scored her second goal of the game and Hope Grant and Christina Williamson got on the board as the Sagehens took a 5-3 lead going into halftime.
Goal keeper junior Ahsha Earwood collected 14 saves in the game and kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard in the third quarter and Williamson added her second goal of the game to push the Sagehens' lead to 6-3 entering the fourth.
Villanova mounted a comeback as they went on to score two goals in the fourth but the Pomona-Pitzer defense stayed strong to give the Sagehens their first win in the Tina Finali Invitational.
The Sagehens next turned their attention to Cal State East Bay in game two.
Pomona-Pitzer fell behind in the first as CSU East Bay scored three runs in the first quarter. The Sagehens found the net twice in the quarter with goals coming from Castro and freshman Anna Yu but trailed the Pioneers 3-2.
The Sagehens tied up the game heading into halftime as McCracken tallied two goals in the quarter and the Pioneers added one more to make the score 4-4 at the break.
Both teams found the back of the net twice during the third quarter with Sagehen goals coming from freshman Natalie Hill and McCracken tallied her third goal of the game as the teams headed into the fourth quarter all tied up at 6-6.
The Pioneers put up one goal in the fourth quarter but it was enough to get the win as the Cal State East Bay defense shut out Pomona-Pitzer late in the game to hand the Sagehens their first loss in the Tina Finali Invitational.
The Sagehens continue play in the Tina Finali Invitational with a game against Cal State Monterey Bay at 11:45 a.m. and Santa Clara at 3:30 p.m.
