CLAREMONT, Ca. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team ended Convergence with two wins after they beat Concordia 12-7 and Azusa Pacific 7-6 on Saturday at Haldeman Pool.
Pomona-Pitzer 12, Concordia 7
The Sagehens had four players with two goals as Abigail Wiesenthal, Allison Sullivan Wu, Nadia Paquin and Lucie Abele all shared a team-high with two goals each while Madison Lewis, Namlhun Jachung, Lulu Gaither and Nikki Rubottom all had one goal in the win. May Lin got the start and win in goal with three saves and three steals for the Sagehens.
Pomona-Pitzer jumped out to a lead in the first as Jachung converted a five-meter penalty followed by a goal by Wiesenthal to take a 2-0 lead with 6:10 left in the first. Concordia responded on their next possession with a goal, but the Sagehens came back with two more from Sullivan Wu and Lewis to extend the lead to 4-1. The Eagles cut the lead down to two at 4-2, but the Sagehens ended the first with a goal by Gaither to end the first period up 5-2.
Concordia started out the second quarter with a goal but Wisenthal and Abele added goals in the second for the Sagehens to give Pomona-Pitzer a 7-3 lead at halftime.
The Eagles and Sagehens exchanged goals to open the second half with Sullivan Wu finding the back of the net followed by Paquin and Abele to take a 10-4 lead. The Eagles got one back at the end of the third and opened the fourth with a goal to cut the lead down to 10-6, but the Sagehens ended the game with goals from Paquin and Rubottom to hold off the Eagles for the win.
Pomona-Pitzer 7, Azusa Pacific 6
The Sagehens were led by Abele and Wiesenthal who each netted two in the win. Katherine Cullen, Paquin, and Kaylee Stigar also contributed one goal each. Zosia Amberger got the win in the cage for the Sagehens with eight saves against Azusa Pacific.
A low scoring first half between the two teams but Azusa Pacific got the scoring going with a goal at the 4:47 mark to take a 1-0 lead. The Sagehens added a goal late by Cullen, but APU netted the final goal of the first with one second left to take a 2-1 lead into the second.
Azusa Pacific stretched its lead to two goals after they opened up the second quarter with a goal, but the Sagehens responded on their next possession to cut the lead down to 3-2 heading into the locker room.
The defense showed up for the Sagehens in the third period as they shut out APU and netted three goals themselves in the third. Pomona-Pitzer tied the game midway through the third off a Wiesenthal goal and the Sagehens took their first lead of the game as Abele netted a goal with 1:15 left in the third. The Sagehens added one more before the fourth from Paquin to take a 5-3 lead into the fourth quarter.
Pomona-Pitzer extended their lead to the largest of the night at 6-3 after a goal by Wiesenthal and exchanged goals with APU with Abele getting her second to make it 7-4 with 6:35 left in the fourth. After being down by three in the fourth, APU started to make a comeback with back-to-back goals to cut it down to 7-6 with just over four minutes remaining.
The defense and Amberger came up big down the stretch as they preserved the one-goal lead for multiple possessions. The Sagehens got the ball on offense and drew an exclusion late that reset the shot clock and allowed them to burn out the remainder of the time to hang on for the win.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next host Whittier and CMS on Saturday, March 12th at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
