THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - It was a back-and-forth battle in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) women's water polo opener for both Cal Lutheran and Occidental today at the Samuelson Aquatics Center. After the teams seemingly exchanged goals throughout the first half, CLU used a four-goal third quarter to propel the Regals to a 10-8 victory over the Tigers.
An Amanda Jones hat trick and two goals apiece from Jordan Card, Adrienne Ingalla and Tatiana McCuaig coupled with a number of strong defensive stands helped the Violet and Gold to open league play on the right foot. McCuaig led the team with three steals and Ingalla handed out a pair of assists.
Occidental got the scoring started, but late in the low-scoring first quarter Ingalla recovered her own rebound, pushing the ball past the goal line to eliminate the deficit and knot the teams after the opening eight minutes of action.
In the second stanza, after the Tigers again regained the lead, CLU looked to Card in center for a behind-the-back goal on an assist from McCuaig to again even the score. A man-up situation allowed Sarah Simpson to find the back of the net on a pass from McCuaig for the third goal of the game. The fourth score was recorded by way of Jones, which swung things in favor of CLU at 4-3, though again Oxy would equalize as the teams went into the intermission tied 4-4.
After the break, Ingalla lobbed the ball over Occidental goalie Geneva Perez's head to break the tie for a 5-4 advantage and Jones would eliminate another tie for a 6-5 lead. Following a series of solid defensive plays that ended with a steal, a field block from KC Brendel and couple of big saves from Gina Merry, CLU added a goal from McCuaig at the 2:33 mark, representing the first multi-goal lead of the game.
The Black and Orange scored to pull within one at 7-6, but a cool-under pressure Card found an open Jones who pushed the lead back to two with just over a minute to play in the third. A stingy CLU defense forced a shot clock violation that halted Oxy from getting any more in the period.
The fourth and final frame featured a five-meter shot and another Oxy goal in the first three minutes, but that was all the offense the Tigers would be allowed to muster.
Card netted another blind goal and put CLU ahead 9-8 with the ultimate game-winner and McCuaig scored her second goal of the day to increase the advantage to 10-8 with 1:29 remaining in regulation.
In the final 30 seconds, Ingalla came up with a field block and the sixth save of the day from Merry helped the Regals finish strong.
Occidental (2-15, 0-1 SCIAC) was paced by two goals apiece from Katie Gibbs, Lizzy Kosin and Kelsey Shyba. Perez finished with five saves as the goalie.
Cal Lutheran (5-14, 1-0 SCIAC) will round out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Thursday, March 20 with a pair of games at Cal State Northridge, first facing Harvard (Mass.) at 4:45 p.m. and playing the host school at 7:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 10, OXY 8
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