CLAREMONT, CA. – The No. 1 ranked Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team advanced to the USA Water Polo Division III National Championship game with their 26-6 win over Austin College on Saturday afternoon at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: with the win, the Sagehens improved to 24-10 overall and will play for the National Championship for the third-straight season.
The Sagehens were led by
Abigail Wiesenthal who netted a game-high five goals in the win.
Ayva Magna,
Brienz Lang,
Gabby Lewis, and
Lauren Smith all netted hat-tricks as well with three goals each,
Namlhun Jachung,
Mia Amberger, and
Lulu Gaither had two while
Kaylee Stigar,
Lisbon Zeigler, and
Paityn Richardson had one.
The 'Roos kept it within reach during the first quarter as the Sagehens only outscored Austin 5-3 in the first. Lang started the scoring with a goal, but Austin responded immediately to make it 1-1. Jachung came back with her first of the day followed by Gaither, but Austin netted back-to-back goals to tie the game at 3-3. The Sagehens ended the first with two-straight goals from Smith and took a 5-3 lead into the second quarter.
Pomona-Pitzer broke the game wide open in the second with a season-high 13 goals in a single quarter. Gaither, Lang, Jachung and Stigar got on the board to make it 10-3 while Smith, Richardson, Amberger, Zeigler, and a straight hat-trick from Lewis put the Sagehens up 18-4 at halftime.
Wiesenthal and Magna got the lead up to 21-4 to start the second half while Austin added one more to their total with the Sagehens up 21-5 heading into the fourth.
After the game was well in hand, the Sagehens still managed to outscore Austin 5-3 in the final quarter of play. Wiesenthal capped off her five-goal game with three-straight to open the fourth while Magna added two more of her own in the fourth as the Sagehens cruised to a big win to advance to the Division III National Championship.
Up Next: The Sagehens will meet CMS once again in the National Championship that will be played on Sunday, May 5
th at 12:00 p.m.
