SANTA BARBARA, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team started off their 2023 season with a 2-0 record at the UCSB Winter Invite with a 15-3 win over UC Merced and a 18-7 win over Ottawa.
Pomona-Pitzer 15, UC Merced 3
The Sagehens were led by Nikki Rubottom and Lauren Valentin who each netted a hat-trick with three goals in the win. Sydney Bianchi and Alexandra Szczerba had a multi-goal game as well with two while Namlhun Jachung, Brienz Lang, Bella McGowan, and Lauren Smith each had one.
Pomona-Pitzer ran away with their opening game early after shutting out UC Merced in the first quarter while putting up eight goals of their own. Szczerba netted the first two goals of the game while Lang, Jachung and two from Bianchi put the Sagehens up 6-0 to force a timeout. The Sagehens kept the offense rolling late in the fourth with goals from McGowan and Valentin to take an 8-0 lead into the second.
UC Merced opened the second with their first goal of the day, but the Sagehens followed with goals from Rubottom and Smith to go up 11-1. UC Merced netted their second goal late in the first half while the Sagehens went into halftime up 11-2.
The two teams alternated goals in the third after Valentin started the third out with a goal and Rubottom closed the third with a goal to make it 13-3 going into the fourth.
Gabby Lewis and Rubottom netted goals in the fourth as the Sagehens cruised to a big win in game one of 2023.
Pomona-Pitzer 18, Ottawa 7
The Sagehens were led by Szczerba with four goals in the win. Abigail Wiesenthal also netted a hat-trick with three goals while Ayva Magna, Jachung, and Lulu Gaither had two each, and Bianchi, Madison Lewis, Mia Amberger, Lang, and McGowan each had one apiece.
A big first half for the Sagehens got them ahead early against Ottawa with five goals in the first and six in the second quarter. Szczerba got the Sagehens going with an early goal while Jachung and Lang put the Sagehens up 3-0 in the first. Ottawa came back with their first goal of the night, but Szczerba netted a powerplay goal and Magna followed to put the Sagehens up 5-1. OUAZ ended the first with a goal to make it 5-2 but a strong start for Pomona-Pitzer with a three-goal lead heading into the second quarter.
The best quarter of the night for the Sagehens was the second as they outscored OUAZ 6-1 in the second. Lewis started the second with a goal for the Sagehens followed by Jachung to make it 7-2. Wiesenthal then netted back-to-back goals before Amberger and Bianchi added two more to make it 11-2. OUAZ scored their lone goal of the second late in the first half as the Sagehens went into halftime up 11-3.
Szczerba opened the third quarter with a goal, but OUAZ netted two goals in a row before Manga added another on the scoresheet to make it 13-5 heading into the fourth.
Pomona-Pitzer added five more goals in the fourth by Wiesenthal, Gaither, Szczerba, and McGowan as they improved to 2-0 on the day in the opening round of the UCSB Winter Invite.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next face off against San Diego State and UC San Diego in day two of the UCSB Winter Invite on Sunday.
