The University of Redlands women's water polo team suffered two tough losses on Saturday at the Thompson Aquatic Center, falling 1-2 to Whittier College in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) contest, before losing to Cal Baptist University, 9-14.
The first game of the day proved to be a tough, defensive battle for both squads. Neither team got on the board in a scoreless first period, but Redlands broke the deadlock in the second stanza when senior driver Jill Stein (Palm Desert, CA) found the back of the net to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 lead with 1:49 left in the half.
Redlands' defense continued to shut down Whittier, but the Poets eventually broke through and tied the game at 1-1 with 1:08 to play in the third quarter. Whittier then took the lead in the fourth period with 6:02 remaining in regulation.
The Bulldogs garnered a number of quality chances and even hit the post on numerous occasions, but could not find the equalizer before the final buzzer sounded, resulting in the tough one-goal defeat.
Junior goalkeeper Julie Lupfer (San Diego, CA) performed tremendously in goal for the Maroon and Gray, notching eight impressive saves while allowing just the two goals.
In the second contest of the day, Redlands jumped out to an early lead over Cal Baptist, 2-0, thanks to goals from senior drivers Moana Tuipulotu (Lahaina, HI) and Stein. The Lancers responded immediately with three goals, however, nabbing the one-goal advantage by the end of the first period.
Stein recorded another score for the Maroon and Gray near the beginning of the second stanza to tie the game at 3-3. Cal Baptist then took a 6-4 advantage, but with just three seconds remaining in the half, Stein completed her individual hat-trick to make it a 5-6 game at the break.
The Bulldogs tied the score at 7-7 midway through the third period when Tuipulotu registered back-to-back scores. Cal Baptist responded with two goals to finish the period, however, and while the Bulldogs would cut the deficit to just one in the final stanza, they could not come all the way back, resulting in the five-goal defeat.
In addition to Stein and Tuipulotu's hat-tricks, freshman utility player Annie Kinney (Balboa, CA), sophomore center-defender Haley Hollinrake (Redlands, CA) and freshman driver Jessica Steinbach (San Jose, CA) each provided one goal.
Facing numerous shots from the Lancers, Lupfer played valiantly in the cage, tallying 11 saves in the loss.
Redlands (8-15, 1-1 SCIAC) travels to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Wednesday, April 3, for an important SCIAC showdown with the Sagehens. The game will be played at the Haldeman Pool on the Pomona College campus and is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
