The University of Redlands women's water polo team welcomed the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges to the friendly confines of the Thompson Aquatic Center on Wednesday evening for an exciting Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown. During a quality, back-and-forth battle, the Bulldogs came up just short in a tight 9-10 decision but showed off great heart and effort throughout the contest.
After an even first period, the Athenas garnered the first multi-goal lead at 6-4 amidst a defensive struggle in the second stanza.
But the Bulldogs responded with consecutive goals by senior utility player Deandra Van Houten (Huntington Beach, CA) and junior utility player Taylor Christie (Anaheim, CA). The teams traded scores again, with Redlands' junior attack Meg Claypool (Portland, OR) finding the back of the net with 2:30 left in the third period.
After CMS gained an 8-7 advantage at the end of the frame, Redlands went right back to work at the start of the fourth, as freshman attack Rachel Haney (Redmond, OR) fired a goal past the Athena goalkeeper to even the count at eight apiece.
But CMS managed to score twice for a slight advantage by the 2:24-mark, while the Bulldogs only had time for one more netter, resulting in the difficult 9-10 loss for the home team.
Junior goalkeeper AC Lopez (Northridge, CA) patrolled the Redlands cage, making seven stops in the process.
Van Houten led the Bulldog offense with four goals, including a first-period hat trick.
Redlands (3-22, 1-3 SCIAC) travels to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday for an 11 a.m. match against the Sagehens.
