Hens Extend Streak Over Athenas To 11 Games

Recap, photo courtesy Pomona College/Pitzer College

CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Water Polo team got the job done against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas, winning their 11^th straight match over the cross-street rivals in all competition in an 11-5 victory on Wednesday night. In what started off as a tight defensive contest, the Hens managed to blow the game open thanks to a 4-0 run led by Jocelyn Castro and Anna Yu from the late third quarter into the fourth.

Season Impact: The Sagehens maintain a commanding lead in first place in the SCIAC with a perfect 8-0 conference record and sit 14-10 overall.

Castro led the Hens in scoring, netting three goals, while Morgan McCracken added two goals and snatched three steals. Anna Yu contributed two more goals and Kyla Pickell added a goal with two steals.

Pickell found the net in the opening period, scoring just 45 seconds to start it off. After Jessica Gaffney of CMS tied it up a minute late on a power play, Bella Villa took it back with 5:02 left in the period. Despite a thrilling opening three minutes, the game slowed down as the Athenas' defense settled down and tried to contain the Hens' offense.

The Athenas tied the game in the second period off a goal by Claire Baxter on a penalty shot. The match developed into a chippy affair as both teams combined for six exclusions in the second period, doing all they can to prevent one another from scoring. The score remained 2-2 at the half.

Janelle Lewis gave the Hens back the lead in the third period, scoring on a power play with 6:27 remaining. She sparked a 3-0 run as Castro and McCracken followed with a goal each to make it 5-2. Anna Fry took one back for the Athenas, but Castro found the net again with 1:31 left to extend the lead 6-3.

Castro completed her hat trick in the final period to spark another 3-0 run as Yu followed with a pair of goals to pad the lead 9-3. The Hens' defense continued to deny the Athenas from gaining any sort of momentum as they held on for an 11-5 victory.