CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team came away with a 15-8 win over SCIAC foe La Verne on Wednesday night at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 14-10 on the year and 5-0 in SCIAC play.
The Sagehens were led by Abigail Wiesenthal who led the way with four goals in the win. Four Sagehens had two as Madison Lewis, Alexandra Szczerba, Mia Amberger, and Lulu Gaither had two while Namlhun Jachung, Brienz Lang, and Lauren Smith had one. Zosia Amberger got the win in goal for the Sagehens with seven saves and two steals.
The Sagehens got out to a good start outscoring La Verne 6-2 in the first quarter. Wiesenthal opened the scoring with a shot in front of the cage and doubled up on the Sagehens' next possession to make it 2-0. La Verne answered for their first goal of the night, but the Sagehens returned fired with a powerplay goal by Lang and an even strength goal from Szczerba to make it 4-1 with just under five minutes to play in the first quarter. The Leopards were able to get on the board again with a goal, but the Sagehens ended the first with goals from Jachung and Lewis to take a 6-2 lead into the second quarter.
After ending the first with a goal, Lewis started the second quarter scoring with her second goal of the night to extend the lead to 7-2. Not a ton of offense in the second quarter with the two teams combining for three goals before halftime. La Verne scored their only goal of the quarter to cut the lead to 7-3, but Amberger netted a goal with 24 seconds to go to put the Sagehens up 8-3 at the break.
Wiesenthal started the scoring for the Sagehens out of halftime with another point-blank goal to make it 9-3 early in the third. Amberger notched the 10th goal of the night for the Sagehens, but the Leopards returned with a goal to end the third to make it 10-4 Sagehens heading int the fourth.
The Sagehens opened the fourth with a powerplay goal from Szczerba and then another goal from Gaither off of the counterattack to push the lead to 12-4. Wiesenthal followed with a goal off of an assist from Szczerba to make it 13-4 and Zosia Amberger came up with penalty shot save as the defense exhausted another powerplay from the La Verne offense. The Sagehens came back with another goal by Smith to make it 14-4 and while the game was already put away, La Verne netted four straight goals to bring the lead down to 14-8. Pomona-Pitzer ended the game one a high note as Gaither scored the final goal of the game as the Sagehens came away with another SCIAC win at home.
Up Next: the Sagehens will next head to Redlands on Saturday, March 25th at 11:00 a.m.
