PASADENA, Calif. (Feb. 23, 2022) – Caltech women's water polo opened up its regular season at home against the Whittier College Poets, showing several moments of brilliance despite being on the short end of the final result.

Junior Amanda Piyapanee (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) put the Beavers on the board to start with an assist by sophomore Tyler Fox (Cos Cob, Conn. / Greenwich) just over a minute into the second quarter. Piyapanee netted another one a couple minutes later with an assist by fellow sophomore Riya Shirvastava (Saratoga, Calif. / Lynbrook). This came on the heels of a strong start for Whittier as the Poets forced several steals in the opening minutes to surge to a quick 5-0 lead. The Beavers showed no willingness to back down, though holding the Poets to just two goals the rest of the quarter while firing seven shots of their own.

"I anticipated the game starting this way with the work Whittier has been able to put in together already," Head Coach Jon Bonafede said. "However, I was pleasantly surprised by the level of composure demonstrated by our team after the bumpy start."

In the third quarter, it was freshman Lana Lubecke (Honolulu, Hawaii / Kalani) who lobbed one past the Whittier goalie. Just before the quarter ended, senior goalie Zoe Rock (Chappaqua, N.Y. / Horace Greeley) saved a dangerous shot by the Poets and quickly moved the ball ahead with the shot clock turned off. Sophomore Riley Tam (North Vancouver, B.C. / Collingwood School) picked it up and found Fox open near the cage, who buried the shot with five seconds left on the clock for the Beavers' fourth goal. Fox additionally picked up a team-high three steals in the contest.

Finally, with just under two minutes played in the fourth quarter, sophomore Emma Gurcan (Portland, Ore. / Lincoln) found the back of the net for an early Beavers goal, with Shrivastava assisting. Gurcan led the team with four drawn exclusions, creating some powerplay opportunities for the Beavers that could have helped turn the tide a bit if they had been converted.

Rock had a strong performance in goal, making 14 saves in the game, including a couple back-to-back shots in the second period to deny Whittier from scoring at close range.

Bonafede and the Beavers will face Occidental College on the road next week on Mar. 2.