Water Polo Upset
By Tamara Zakim
Sports Editor

Pomona-Pitzer's ten game winning streak was rudely snapped by the University of Redlands last weekend in the championship game of SCIAC tournament play. The win, played on Redlands' home turf, raised the Bulldogs to conference champions while handing the Sagehens a much-needed wake-up call just in time for Nationals next weekend. Despite dominating in all of their previous four games over the course of the three-day SCIAC tourney, Pomona-Pitzer's lackluster offensive effort against a fired-up Redlands team ultimately proved costly in exciting but uncharacteristically low-scoring competition.

Though the singular loss rendered the tournament disappointing for a Hen team hoping to emerge conference victors, the weekend was not without highlights. Strong showings over SCIAC opponents La Verne, Occidental, Whittier and CMS were expected, but they nevertheless demonstrated the well-rounded talent and defensive tenacity of the Sagehen squad. In a 10-3 trouncing of La Verne, seven Hens contributed with goals. Lauren Moore '05, Joy Haviland '03, Ashley Gucinski '06, and Lara Kruska '06 put points on the board for Pomona-Pitzer in the opening quarter for a 4-0 lead. Fiona Dunbar '03 and Lucia Schmit '03 chipped in with one a piece to counter a La Verne goal in the second quarter, raising the lead to 6-1 at halftime. Schmit, Blair Henderson '04, Toby Branz '05 and Gucinski all scored in the second half, and two goals by La Verne in the fourth quarter did nothing to threaten the inevitable outcome of the match-up.

The Hens pulled to another quick lead against Whittier. Goals by Haviland and Gucinski in the first quarter gave the Hens a 2-0 advantage, and shots by Schmit, Branz and Gucinski in the second quarter closed the half with a 6-2 score. Haviland and Schmit both earned hat tricks, scoring their third goals in the third quarter. Additional points from Branz and Sarah Kalhorn '05 completed the Sagehen offensive effort. Morgan Sokolow '04 finished the night with seven blocks and five steals.

The second game of Saturday's tournament play saw Pomona-Pitzer hand CMS a resounding 11-5 defeat in a match-up reminiscent of the teams' equally lopsided first round meeting. Pomona-Pitzer, despite another noticeable slow start, pulled together in the second quarter to control both the offensive and defensive tempo consistently throughout the rest of the game. Fiona Dunbar '03 scored the first goal of the afternoon on a crisp outside shot only seconds into the first quarter when an ejection against the Athenas created a 6 on 5 advantage for the Hens. Three minutes in, CMS's prolific scorer Annie Richardson, who leads the conference in goals with 27, tied the score at one. Bad passes by Pomona-Pitzer lead to stolen balls and consecutive turnovers; an ejection against the Sagehens gave Claremont another opportunity to score, putting the Athenas up 2-1. A quick counter attack pass up the pool to Branz in the remaining seconds of the quarter, however, lead to a four meter penalty called against the Athenas, and Haviland converted the shot to tie the score again at two.

An early second quarter goal by Schmit sparked an aggressive offensive run for the Hens, to which the Athenas were unable to reply. Schmit drew an ejection and received the ball at whole set to put Pomona-Pitzer up 3-2 only a minute into the period. Less than sixty seconds later, a steal by Haviland returned the ball to Schmit, who promptly drew another ejection and scored again - this time on a low corner shot to the cage. The Athenas' defense was unable to simultaneously collapse on Schmit at whole-set and thwart Pomona-Pitzer's deadly outside shooting.

Despite being double and sometimes triple teamed, Schmit managed to assist Steph Stewart '05 in a powerful outside shot that landed in the back of the CMS net, upping the lead to 5-2. A quick goal by CMS's Richardson with three minutes remaining in the half did little to hinder Pomona-Pitzer's offensive tenacity. With 2:56 on the clock, Branz outmuscled her defender and tallied the sixth goal of the afternoon for the Hens. The score was raised again before the first half expired, when an ejection drawn by Branz found Stewart open for another outside shot. Two last second counter attack attempts by Claremont were successfully denied by goalie Sokolow and the half closed with a score of 7-3.

Relentless second half defense by the Sagehens effectively dismissed any CMS hopes for a comeback. Turnovers by the Athenas allowed Pomona-Pitzer to continue controlling the game with numerous counter attacks. Another steal by Haviland set Schmit up for her third goal of the afternoon, the hat trick coming on a beautiful lop over the CMS goalie's head. Stewart earned her third goal of the game moments later on a shot to the upper left corner of the cage, increasing Pomona-Pitzer's lead to 9-3. Claremont managed to convert a 6 on 5 opportunity before Gucinski answered back with a counter attack goal of her own in the final seconds of the third quarter. An outside shot by Haviland with 6:30 remaining in the match-up, and a goal by CMS at 4:30 were the only points tallied by either team in the fourth quarter, and the game closed with a final score of 11-5.

The Sagehens - entering the final day of SCIAC competition with four tournament victories and a ten-game winning streak under their belt - finally met their match in a highly energized and determined Redlands squad. Though Pomona-Pitzer convincingly beat Redlands 5-2 in first round competition almost a month ago, SCIAC tournament games are more heavily weighted, making the Hen-Bulldog face-off the most anticipated game of the weekend.

Like the Sagehens, Redlands also won all of its other four tournament games and entered the match-up with an 8-1 conference record (compared to a 9-0 Hen record). In the event of a tied record at the close of the weekend, the championship goes to the winner of the head-to-head game in the tournament; thus, despite having lost to Pomona-Pitzer in previous competition, Redlands still had a chance to emerge with highest SCIAC honors and both teams knew it.

The Sagehens, typically productive on offense and accustomed to finishing games with points in double digits, were held scoreless in three of four quarters against Redlands. A scoreless tie at halftime was indicative of brutal and resolute defense by both teams; Pomona-Pitzer repeatedly took shots that failed to challenge the Bulldog goalie and struggled throughout the contest to find any semblance of consistent offensive rhythm. Poor passes to Schmit and Branz at whole-set were easily picked off by collapsing Redlands defense and outside shots by the Sagehens were taken hesitantly and without confidence.

Ejections were plentiful but both teams failed to convert any 6 on 5 opportunities in the opening half. The first goal of the game went to Redlands early in the second half, when an unexpected outside lop shot caught Pomona-Pitzer's Sokolow out of the cage and landed comfortably in the back of the goal only forty seconds into the third quarter. The Hens blew two shot attempts in a 6 on 5 advantage before scoring their only point of the game in a subsequent possession. Gucinski earned an assist by feeding the ball into Schmit at two-meters and the score was tied at one with 4:59 on the third quarter clock.

Frustrating back-and-forth play continued until an ejection against the Hens gave Redlands an open look and their second goal. Thirty seconds later, a bullet shot from the outside boosted the Redlands lead to 3-1. Scoring attempts by Pomona-Pitzer remained agonizingly off-target and despite returning Redlands to a scoreless state in the fourth quarter, the Sagehens could not challenge the 3-1 score with any goals of their own.

Timid outside shooting, a plague of ejection calls, over dependency on Schmit at whole-set, and the bad passes that resulted from forcing the ball into two-meters all contributed to Pomona-Pitzer's eventual loss to the Bulldogs. Though the defeat came as a blow to an otherwise confident and top-ranked Sagehen group, it highlights weaknesses to be fixed in the team's game before Nationals begin today at CMS.

The Hens remain the odds-on favorite for the weekend, though they are now seeded second to Redlands going into the three-day tournament. The loss to Redlands might prove to be a much-needed awakening for a team that has grown accustomed to winning without being challenged. At the very least, Pomona-Pitzer looks forward to the opportunity for revenge against the Bulldogs in what may be the championship game at Nationals. Also competing for a chance at glory this weekend are (in order of ranking) CMS, UC Santa Cruz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Penn State Behrend, Macalester College and Grove City College.