CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team stayed on top of the SCIAC with a 13-10 win over SCIAC rival CMS on Wednesday night at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: with the win, the Sagehens improve to 17-10 overall and remain perfect at 8-0 in conference play.
The Sagehens were led by Abigail Wiesenthal who netted a game-high five goals on the night. Namlhun Jachung had the only other multi-goal night with two while Kaylee Stigar, Gabby Lewis, Mia Amberger, Brienz Lang, Paulina Correa and Lulu Gaither had one each.
The Sagehens had two powerplay opportunities early in the first, but the CMS defense was able to keep the Sagehens off the board and went on to score the first goal of the night to put the Athenas up 1-0. Pomona-Pitzer answered on their third powerplay opportunity of the quarter as Amberger fired a ball into the top corner to even the game at 1-1 with just under four minutes left in the first. The Sagehens took their first lead of the night after a goal from Stigar to make it 2-1, but the Athenas answered back immediately to make it 2-2. The Athenas took advantage late in the quarter with a goal to take a 3-2 lead into the second.
CMS on the sprint and earned a five-meter penalty to start the second to take two-goal lead over the Sagehens early in the second quarter. Pomona-Pitzer pulled one back after a goal from Wiesenthal and Wiesenthal went on to score three-straight goals in the second quarter to put the Sagehens back on top at 5-4 with 1:27 left before halftime. The Sagehens had the final shot of the half, but the CMS defense held them off as the Sagehens led by one heading into halftime.
Wiesenthal continued to be a force in front of the cage for the Sagehens on offense as she went on to score her fourth-straight goal of the game to put the Sagehens up two goals at 6-4 with the first goal of the second half. Jachung relieved Wiesenthal of her scoring duties with a powerplay goal to make it 7-4 and after a CMS response, Lewis added another for Pomona-Pitzer to take an 8-5 lead over CMS. The Athenas did close the third with a goal to pull within two heading into the fourth with the Sagehens up 8-6.
Lang and Correa opened the fourth goals for the Sagehens as they took their largest lead of the night over CMS at 10-6, but the Athenas came storming back with three-straight goals in three minutes to get within one goal down 10-9 with 2:45 to play. The Sagehens put an end to the Athenas' comeback attempt as Gaither sniped a long shot into the corner of the net and Jachung followed with a floater over the head of the CMS keeper to push the lead to a comfortable 12-9. Just before the final whistle, the star of the night added one more for good measure as Wiesenthal netted her fifth of the night as Pomona-Pitzer stayed on top of the conference with a win over their conference rival at home.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next travel to Caltech on Saturday, April 8th at 11:00 a.m.
