CLAREMONT, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team defeated Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent Cal Lutheran 7-5 on Wednesday afternoon at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: with the win, the Sagehens improve to 16-11 overall and remain unbeaten at 11-0 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by Anna Yu who had two goals and two assists in the win. Morgan Stockham also earned the win in goal for the Sagehens with seven saves and one steal.
A slow offensive game to start was expected with two of the league's top goalkeepers at opposite ends of the pool. The Sagehens got on the board early in the first period as Yu notched her first goal off of an assist from Kahea Kahaulelio to take a 1-0 lead with 7:25 left in the first. The Regals came back with an equalizer just about one minute later as both teams tallied one goal in the first.
Cal Lutheran jumped ahead of the Sagehens in the second period as they opened up with two goals to take a 3-1 lead with 3:08 left until half. The Reglas kept the Sagehens off of the scoreboard until 28 seconds left in the second when Kahea Kahaulelio found the back of the net to trim the deficit to one goal at halftime, 3-2.
The Regals could only keep Pomona-Pitzer's offense quiet for so long as the Sagehens came out with four goals in the third period to take back control of the game. Kyla Pickell got the scoring going with a goal just 30 seconds into the second half followed by back-to-back goals from Yu and Janelle Lewis to retake the lead at 5-3 with 5:07 left in the third. Cal Lutheran broke up the goal-streak to cut the lead down to one but Nadia Paquin responded with a goal to end the third with a 6-4 lead.
Pomona-Pitzer scored a goal early on in the fourth period as Natalie Hill scored off of an assist from Yu and the Sagehens tightened up on defense and did not allow a goal until 16 seconds left in the game as they finished off the season sweep of Cal Lutheran.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host SCIAC opponent Caltech on Saturday, April 13th at 11:00 a.m.
