CLAREMONT Calif. - It took a great fourth quarter come-back for the Cal Lutheran women's water polo team to take home a 12-10 victory over Concordia-Irvine, to conclude the opening day of the Claremont Convergence with a pair of wins. In the morning game, CLU defeated Macalester 17-3.
Kicking off the weekend, the offense exploded for 17 goals, coming from 11 different players as the Regals cruised to a victory. The defense held Macalester to just one opening period goal and shut them out over the next two quarters. Skylar Vasquez blocked 14 shots and added an assist as the CLU goalie in the morning match-up.
The scoring was paced by hat-tricks from freshman Kehau Ai and sophomore Lauren Ray. Both Christina Messer and Shannon Streeter netted a pair in the win. Rounding out the scoring were Lexy Varshawsky, Kaylee Kastrup, Kelsey Bergemann, Sarah Mock, Lauren Biggs, Adrienne Ingalla and Emily Carson who scored one apiece.
Morgan McCardell dished out three assists while Claire Whitten came away with three steals. Ai and Lindsay Bowden each tallied two assists. Bergemann drew a pair of ejections and added two steals for CLU in the win.
The second game was a close one. The teams were knotted at 2-2 after the opening stanza and CLU trailed 7-6 at the intermission. After allowing three unanswered goals in the third the CLU defense stepped up in the fourth quarter, holding Concordia-Irvine scoreless over the final eight minutes. Simultaneously, CLU got the offensive spark it needed and reeled off five fourth quarter goals to cap off the come-back.
McCardell netted a team-high four goals with Bergemann adding a hat-trick of her own. Whitten also had a multi-goal game with two.
Messer gave CLU three man-up opportunities and Streeter drew two ejections in the contest.
Ai was a menace to the CUI offense, coming away with a game-high five steals. Whitten finished with four steals. McCardell, Streeter and goalie Kylee Tomasetti had three steals apiece.
Tomasetti, who manned the cage for the whole game, tallied 10 saves.
Cal Lutheran (7-5) stretched its win streak to three games. The Regals will travel back to Claremont tomorrow for the final day of the tournament. CLU is set to face off with Sienna at 10:00 a.m. followed by a 3:20 show-down against CSU San Bernardino.
