Claremont, Calif. (April 20, 2022)—The No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Women’s Water Polo team completed their undefeated conference season with a 19-8 win on Senior Day against La Verne at Haldeman Pool.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens claim the SCIAC Regular Season Championship with an undefeated conference record at 14-0 and improve to 20-15 overall.
The Sagehens were led by the combo of Lucie Abele (PO’22) and Alexandra Szczerba (PO’25), who each shared a team-high with four goals in the win. Allison Sullivan Wu (PO’22) also netted a hat-trick with three goals, while Kaylee Stigar (PO’25) and Pitzer’s Lulu Gaither ’25 each tallied two. Abigail Wiesenthal (PO’24), Madison Lewis (PO’23), and Pitzer’s Namlhun Jachung ’24 and Nikki Rubottom ’25 each had one. May Lin (PO’24) got the start in goal and picked up the win with three saves, and Zosia Amberger (PO’25) came in at halftime and also had three saves in the second half.
Pomona-Pitzer scored early and often against the Leopards, with five goals in the first. Sullivan Wu netted her first goal of the night just over a minute in, and Wiesenthal made it 2-0 with a goal on a powerplay. The Sagehens added two more to their total from Jachung and Szczerba before the Leopards scored their first goal of the game to make it 4-1, but Szczerba netted her second with 27 seconds left in the first as the Sagehens held a 5-1 lead heading into the second quarter.
The seniors started out the second quarter strong as Sullivan Wu netted a goal followed by two more from Abele to make it 8-1 with just under a minute to play before halftime. The Sagehens added one more to their total from Gaither as the defense shut out the Leopards in the second quarter to make it 9-1 Sagehens at the break.
Abele and Lewis got the Sagehens on the board to start the second half before La Verne broke the goal streak with back-to-back goals to cut the lead down to 11-4 to end the third.
Pomona-Pitzer came out and put seven more goals on the board in the fourth to close out their regular season. Gaither got the first goal of the fourth followed by Abele and two-straight from Szczerba to take a 16-4 lead with 4:19 left in the fourth. The Sagehens made it five-straight to open the quarter before La Verne netted three-straight goals, but Rubottom and Stigar ended the night for the Sagehens in the scoresheet as the Sagehens ended the regular season unbeaten in conference play.
Adapted from the Pomona-Pitzer Athletics press release “Sagehens End Regular Season Unbeaten In SCIAC Play With Senior Night Win Over La Verne.”
