SAN DIEGO, CA – The Pomona-Pitzer women's water polo team suffered a 6-14 loss to Princeton and earned a 12-11 victory over Bucknell on its first day of the Aztec Invitational on Saturday.
 
Season Impact: With the results, the Sagehens continue their season at 11-12 overall and 5-0 in SCIAC play.
 
Pomona-Pitzer 6, Princeton 14

The Sagehens were led by Mia Amberger versus the Tigers, who scored two goals. Natalie Sullivan Wu, Brienz Lang, Layla Szymczak, and Sydney Bowns each netted one.
 
Pomona-Pitzer attempted to take the lead in the first half and created several opportunities to score. The Tigers were formidable and broke past the Sagehen defenses to score several times. After the first Princeton offensive maneuvers succeeded, Szymczak put Pomona-Pitzer on the scoreboard by denting the twine from a penalty shot with 5:38 left on the clock. The Tigers then widened their lead, but Lang then earned another goal for the Sagehens with 0:58 left on the clock. Despite the strong efforts, Pomona-Pitzer closed out the first quarter behind Princeton 2-6. The Tigers furthered their siege on the Sagehen defenses as the second quarter started. Pomona-Pitzer found many opportunities to score but was unable to convert. However, the Sagehens efforts were not lost as Amberger scored a goal during a power play with 1:23 left on the clock. Pomona-Pitzer entered halftime behind 3-8.
 
Princeton furthered the lead as the second half started. They managed to break through the Sagehen defenses several times and score. Pomona-Pitzer tried securing more goals but fell short. Despite various opportunities, the Sagehens were unable to convert and entered the fourth quarter still behind 3-13.
 
Pomona-Pitzer pushed through the fourth quarter. The Sagehen efforts began to pay off when Amberger beat the goalie and earned a goal on a power play with 6:21 left in the period. Bowns followed soon and netted a goal with 4:42 left on the clock to narrow the scoring gap. While the Tigers soon responded with their own goal, Sullivan Wu also earned a goal from a power play for Pomona-Pitzer with 3:45 left on the clock. The Sagehens continued their efforts through the end of the match and found more opportunities to shoot on the opposing goal. However, the Princeton lead stood, and Pomona-Pitzer fell 6-14 to the Tigers.
 
Pomona-Pitzer 12, Bucknell 11

The Sagehens were led by Mia Amberger again versus Bucknell, who netted four goals in the win. Also contributing to the scoring were Natalie Sullivan Wu and Sydney Bowns who each scored two goals while Ayva Magna, Katie Hugar, Lisbon Zeigler and Layla Szymczak each posted one.
 
Pomona-Pitzer put up a strong effort in the first half and earned six goals. The Bison struck first, but Magna replied by netting a goal with 3:54 left on the clock. Bucknell then earned another goal, but while both sides attempted to further their scoring, but were unable to move the score. While Bucknell managed to break past the Sagehen defenses, Pomona-Pitzer closed out the first quarter trailing the Bison 1-2. Bucknell scored early in the second period, but Amberger then added to the Sagehen score with a goal with 6:10 left on the clock. Bowns swiftly followed by netting two back-to-back goals with 5:26 and 4:43 left in the period to bring the Sagehens leading 4-3. Still, the Bison managed to tie the score 4-4 after earning another goal. Both teams found opportunities to steal the lead but were unable to until Szymczak found the back of the net and earned a goal with 1:56 left on the clock. Sullivan Wu further added to the Pomona-Pitzer score with a goal with 0:37 left on the clock. The strong Sagehen performances in the second quarter pulled Pomona-Pitzer to a 6-4 lead as they entered halftime.
 
Amberger started the scoring in the second half by netting a goal with 6:19 left on the clock. However, Bucknell earned three more goals to tie the score 7-7. The Sagehens tried to reclaim their heading with a goal from Amberger with 0:42 left in the third period, but the Bison followed with another goal to tie the teams 8-8 as the final period approached.
 
The Sagehens struck first in the fourth quarter with Hugar earning a goal from a power play with 7:21 left on the clock. Amberger followed and netted a goal with 6:30 left in the period to further the Pomona-Pitzer lead. The scoring then traded off between both sides. While Sullivan Wu secured a goal from a power play with 3:53 left on the clock, Bucknell earned three more goals to tie the score 11-11. A last-minute goal from Zeigler with 0:54 left on the clock put the Sagehens ahead. The Bison attempted to break past the Pomona-Pitzer defenses and tie the score but were unable to convert. The Sagehens played well and secured their 12-11 victory over Bucknell, ending their first day of the Aztec Invitational Tournament.
 
Up Next: The Sagehens will continue their campaign in the Aztec Invitational Tournament and compete against SDSU and Indiana on Sunday, March 15th starting at 11:40 a.m. PT.