REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Water Polo team came away with their biggest win on the season Saturday morning beating Occidental College 10-9 in sudden-death overtime inside the Thompson Aquatic Center.
Aubree Nabors (Conroe, TX) tied the game with 1:30 remaining in overtime before Teagan May (Carlsbad, CA) secured the win in sudden death as the Bulldogs took down the Tigers for their second conference victory.
Marlie Potocki (Joliet, Ill.) was the lone goal scorer for the Bulldogs across the first seven minutes before Lucia Notaro (Ventura, CA) picked up her second assist, finding Brooklyn Green (Fontana, CA) to make it a 3-2 game in the final minute of the first.
Redlands' defensive unit then shut out Occidental in the second quarter, while their offense tallied four goals for a 6-4 lead at the break. Aubrey Stevenson (Calimesa, CA), Notaro (2x), and Gianna Ratto (Santa Rosa, CA) had the other four Bulldogs tallies with Kiera Federline (Ashland, OR), Natalie Abril (Rancho Cucamonga, CA), and Ainsley Killian (Beaverton, OR) all picking up their first assists of the game.
Following a scoreless first two minutes of the third quarter, the two sides went back-and-forth with the Bulldogs still in front, 8-6, with :31 seconds to go. Killian and Green had the two goals for Redlands during that stretch.
Occidental, however, made it a one-goal game in the final :18 seconds of the third before shutting out Redlands in the fourth, which allowed their lone goal at the 2:37 mark to send the two teams into overtime tied at eight.
The Tigers were the first to score in the first three-minute overtime period, but midway through the second overtime Nabors saved the Bulldogs, tying the game at nine with a minute and a half.
Following the two required three-minute overtime periods, the two sides went into sudden death where golden goal would end the game.
Nabors had a huge field block before Sofia Mather (Riverside, CA) made a save setting up the Bulldogs with possession coming out of a timeout with :43 seconds on the clock.
:14 seconds later Stevenson found May on the weak side who beat the Tiger keeper to win it with :29 seconds left on the clock.
Mather finished with 15 saves, while playing 24 minutes and 31 seconds. Abril had four saves in 16 minutes. Notaro and Green each had two-goal games. Notaro added three assists for a total of five points.
Redlands goes back on the road for a game at the University of La Verne on Wednesday, March 18 at 6:00 p.m.
