Photo by Michael Wong
WHITTIER, Calif. (Apr. 9, 2016) – Junior Mary Boyajian (Sun Valley, Calif. / Village Christian) broke the Caltech women's water polo single-season record for assists with her 32nd of the spring in a well-fought 15-6 defeat at Division III No. 1 Whittier College on Saturday morning.
The hosts opened up a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and traded goals with the Beavers in the second quarter to hold just a 4-1 lead at halftime. Senior Soumya Kannan (Palo Alto, Calif. / Henry M Gunn) notched Caltech's goal. The Beavers cut the deficit to two on a Boyajian strike to open the third quarter and Percin canceled out a Poets goal 12 seconds later with her first of the day.
Whittier's offense finally clicked to rattle off five unanswered goals and traded scores as Percin notched another tally to lead by seven, 11-4. Percin completed her hat trick with the opener in the fourth quarter on an extraman opportunity and senior Stephanie Wong (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. / Palos Verdes Peninsula) chipped in with a score but Whittier held on for the win.
Freshman Katie Johnston (Livermore, Calif. / Livermore) assisted on four goals and made three steals while Kannan drew five exclusions. Boyajian and Percin each nabbed two steals and junior Sash Zemsky (Mount Kisco, N.Y. / Horace Greeley) recorded an assist while freshman Gemma Takahashi (San Jose, Calif. / Leland) made her season debut with a field block.
Head Coach Jon Bonafede and the Beavers host a pair of games this week before next weekend's SCIAC Championships. Still pursuing a program-record fourth win of the season, Caltech welcomes DIII No. 9 Occidental College (2-10, 0-6) on Wednesday, Apr. 13 at 4 p.m. and DIII No. 4 Chapman University (8-17, 3-3) on Saturday, Apr. 16 at 11 a.m.
Follow and show support for your Caltech Beavers on Twitter (@CaltechBeavers), Facebook, YouTube and Instagram!
