CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team split day two of the Convergence Tournament after a 21-6 loss to Division I powerhouse USC and came back for a 12-9 win over Iona on Saturday at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: With the split, the Sagehens move to 7-9 overall.
Pomona-Pitzer 6, USC 21
The Sagehens were led by Namlhun Jachung who was the only Pomona-Pitzer player to have a multi-goal game against the Trojans. Alexandra Szczerba, Gabby Lewis, Mia Amberger and Paulina Correa also all got on the scoresheet as well in the loss.
USC got the scoring going early and often but the Sagehens kept it close in the first half. The Trojans jumped out to a 2-1 lead with Szczerba getting on the board for the Sagehens early in the first quarter. The two teams alternated goals as Amberger and Jachung scored to make it just a one-goal deficit for the Sagehens at 4-3 with 2:31 left in the first quarter. USC turned it on towards the end of the first and ended with seven goals in the quarter to take a 7-3 lead into the second.
The Sagehens could only get one goal in the second quarter coming from Jachung as the Trojans started to pull away with a 10-4 lead at halftime. Pomona-Pitzer ended the game with two goals in the third from Correa and Lewis and were held scoreless in the fourth as the Sagehens fell to USC at home.
Pomona-Pitzer 12, Iona 9
The Sagehens were led by Lulu Gaither who netted a hat-trick with four goals in the win. Abigail Wiesenthal joined Gaither with a hat-trick after she scored three of her own and Brienz Lang also had a multi-goal game with two. Alexandra Szczerba, Namlhun Jachung and Paulina Correa each had one in the win as well.
The Sagehens got out to a good start with two goals to open the game from Wiesenthal and Gaither before the Gaels scored their first goal of the game to make it 2-1 with just under five minutes to play in the first. Iona tied the game at 2-2, but the Sagehens scored a goal in the final minute from Lang to take a 3-2 lead after one quarter of play.
Iona tied and then took the lead in the second, but the Sagehens answered with goals from Szczerba and Corea to take a 5-4 lead and added one more before halftime from Gaither to hold a 6-4 lead at the break.
Pomona-Pitzer took their largest lead of the night with goals from Gaither and Wiesenthal to make it 8-4 Sagehens, but the Sagehens responded with three-straight to bring it back to one goal at the end of the third with Pomona-Pitzer up 8-7.
Wiesenthal started the fourth with a big goal and after a Gaels' goal, the Sagehens pulled away after Jachung and Lang netted goals in the fourth to make it 11-8 with 3:35 to play. Iona tried to come back, but Gaither ended the game with her fourth to end convergence with a win for the Sagehens.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next travel to Chapman on Wednesday, March 8th at 7:00 p.m.
