PASADENA, Calif.— Cal Lutheran women's water polo exploded for its season-high in goals as the Regals blowout Caltech 23-5 on Wednesday night.

The Regals tallied a .793 shooting percentage as they improved to 2-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play and are 8-4 overall.

Kaitlin Gardhouse and Lexi Rond led the Regals with five goals each. Victoria Rose Meek added three goals, Kemi Dijkstra, Christin Hirn, Kim Reidel and Mackenzie Thomas each added two and Elyse Koe and Maddie Stuart both had one.

The offense was perfect in powerplay opportunities as the Regals were 10-for-10 on drawn ejections. Rond tallied three and seven more Regals recorded one. The offense flowed as CLU shared the ball. Jessica Diaz and Koe both had a team-high three assists and Bri Bulkeley, Dijkstra and Kim Reidel all had two.

Kaitlin Moreno and Taryn Sato split time in the cage as Moreno tallied three saves and Sato had five more. The defense also flourished as Diaz and Rond tallied a team-high three steals each. Taylor Campbell added two more and five different Regals had one.

The Regals jumped all over the Beavers and scored the first four goals of the game, in just one minute and 40 seconds. After Caltech got its first goal, the Regals scored seven goals the rest of the way and took an 11-1 lead after one quarter. From the 4:43 mark to 1:45, Gardhouse scored all five of her goals.

CLU kept piling on the points in the second quarter, scoring six more, and took a 17-1 lead at the break. With reserves playing in the second half, and getting experience, the Regals went onto win the game 23-5.

The Regals return home for a doubleheader this weekend. Cal Lutheran host Pomona-Pitzer at 11 a.m., followed by Virginia Military Institute at 3 p.m.

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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director