Author: Andrew Valdes
The Women’s Water Polo team held their SCIAC home opener this past Saturday to a packed house at Taylor Pool. The team did not disappoint, defeating the University of Redlands Bulldogs 15-14 in triple overtime. The game only adds another chapter to the ongoing rivalry between the two teams, as the Tigers have defeated their conference foes for the third time in three years, all by narrow margins.
The Tigers came out of the gate focused and on point as they opened the game with two quick goals from Sara Boehler (junior). However, as the Bulldogs took the lead as they finished the first quarter strong 3-2.
In the next quarter the Tigers made their push and never looked back. Danielle Montenegro (senior) took over the game, tallying six goals, with two of those coming in the overtime periods.
Nonetheless, the Bulldogs kept the game close and in the fourth quarter made a push to catch the Tigers, tying the game with a controversial goal late fourth quarter with only 4.7 seconds left on the clock. The goal was the result of a late foul call against the Tigers that was controversial, allowing the Redlands shooter to put away an uncontested shot.
While such a devastating turn of events could be enough to derail even the most experienced of teams, the Tigers maintained their focus. Perla Almaraz (first-year) said, “When we went into overtime, yes, it was nerve-wracking, but most of all, very tiring. What I loved most about the game was that we all worked through the tired state; after every goal Redlands scored, we worked even harder to make them pay for their mistakes.”
Make them pay is exactly what the Tigers did, taking the first overtime period by storm and scoring three goals to end the three-minute period with a 14-11 lead over Redlands. In the second overtime period, Redlands would chip away at the Tigers’ lead the same way they had done throughout the game. Eventually, after three unanswered goals, the score at the end of two overtime periods read 14-14, calling the need for a third “sudden death” overtime period.
With tensions high and both teams clearly on their last legs, the Tigers got a lift from newcomer Julianne Monday (first-year), who wasted no time scoring the game-winning goal with a set shot that rang off the post and crept across the goal line to put the crowd, players and even the coach into a celebratory frenzy.
Pleased with his team’s performance, Head Coach Larry Zubrin said, “I was pleased with the way the girls came together in the win. You have to give Redlands some credit, though. Every time it seemed like we had them down, they came storming back to tie it up; but we stuck to our game plan and in the end the girls came through.”
The victory over Redlands marks the Tigers second SCIAC victory of the season, putting them at a record of 13-10 overall and 2-1 in SCIAC play. This week’s upcoming games could very easily dictate the Tigers’ final placing in the conference as they play host to both Cal Lutheran (ranked one in SCIAC) on Wednesday, April 9 and Pomona (ranked two) on Saturday, April 12.
Zubrin expressed the importance of the upcoming week, saying, “Our conference is very evenly matched, and it’s always going to be a close battle. For us, we just take it one game at a time and go out and do the best we can.”
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