WHITTIER, Calif. - The hopes of earning the second Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title in Cal Lutheran women's water polo history came to an abrupt halt on Friday night as the Regals were upset 11-10 by Redlands during the opening round of the SCIAC Championships hosted by Whittier.
Cal Lutheran got off to a hot start, leading by a 4-2 margin after the first frame and pushed the differential to as many as three at 5-2, but the Bulldogs chipped away and knotted the teams up at 6-6 at the midway point of the contest.
CLU scored on the first possession out of halftime and increased the gap to 8-6. That lead slowly slipped away as UR scored three unanswered goals to flip a two-goal deficit into a 9-8 advantage. The Violet and Gold countered to again bring the squads even and with 1:08 remaining in regulation the scoreboard showed 10 goals apiece. With just 10 ticks to play the Bulldogs found the back of the net, ending the Regals run.
Though Cal Lutheran saw a number of solid individual performances, it was not enough at the buzzer. Leading the way was the duo of Adrienne Ingalla and Gina Merry. The CLU goalie turned away eight Bulldogs' shots while grabbing a team-high five steals and Ingalla had a pair of team-bests with two field blocks and three goals. Amanda Jones also contributed at both ends with four steals, a pair of assists and two goals. Kaylee Kastrup had a team-leading three drawn ejections, adding a goal and three steals as well. Rounding out the scoring with a pair apiece were Jordan Card and Sara Simpson with Tatiana McCuaig dishing out more assists than anyone else with four.
Cal Lutheran (9-20, 5-4 SCIAC) will play a consolation game against La Verne at 2:30 p.m. on day two of the 2014 SCIAC Championships tomorrow, Saturday, April 26.
Box Score: UR 11, CLU 10 - box score unavailable at time of release
Tournament Central: 2014 SCIAC Championships
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