CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water team advanced to the SCIAC Tournament Championship after their 20-8 win over La Verne on Friday night at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 23-10 overall and advance to the SCIAC Tournament Championship.
The Sagehens had three players earn hat-tricks as Alexandra Szczerba led the way with four and Abigail Wiesenthal and Lulu Gaither netted three. Sydney Bianchi, Kaylee Stigar, and Madison Lewis had two while Namlhun Jachung, Gabby Lewis, Mia Amberger, and Paulina Correa had one.
Stigar found herself in front of goal for the opening goal of the game. The Sagehens earned an exclusion on offense and cashed in off of a onetime shot by Wiesenthal to take an early 2-0 lead and Szczerba followed with a goal to push the lead to 3-0 before the Leopards burned a timeout with 4:17 left in the first quarter.
The Sagehens continued to build their lead in the first as Wiesenthal netted her second goal of the night, but the Leopards finally got on the board in the first to cut the lead down to 4-1.
Szczerba and the Sagehens answered back with back-to-back goals to take a 6-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Jachung opened the second quarter with a free shot from in front of the cage before La Verne answered off a powerplay to make it 7-2 Sagehens early in the quarter. Madison Lewis answered for the Sagehens, but the Leopards converted a five-meter penalty to answer right back at 8-3.
Gaither got on the scoresheet with a lob to the back corner of the net to make it 9-3 and then followed with a long breakaway to find the back of the net for her second-straight goal to give the Sagehens a 10-3 lead heading into halftime.
Pomona-Pitzer opened the second half with two early goals from Wiesenthal and Lewis to extend the lead to nine at 12-3. Gaither went on to net her hat-trick shortly after, but the Leopards got their first goal of the third shortly after to get the lead back under 10 at 13-4 with just over five minutes to play in the third. Bianchi, Correa and Gabby Lewis joined the scorers in the third to give the Sagehens a commanding 16-4 lead heading into the fourth.
La Verne matched the Sagehens with four goals in the fourth, but the Sagehens built an insurmountable lead in the first three quarters of the game. Szczerba, Stigar, Bianchi and Amberger all hit the net in the fourth as the Sagehens coasted to a win in the Semifinals of the SCIAC Tournament.
Up Next: The Sagehens will host CMS for the SCIAC Tournament Championship on Sunday, April 30th at 11:00 a.m.
