PASADENA, Calif. (Mar. 26, 2022) – Caltech Women's Water Polo squared off against the No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on a hot Saturday morning in the Braun Pool, marking their second meeting of the 2022 SCIAC campaign.

The visitors played a ferocious game and attacked the Beavers' cage without restraint, but an unfazed defensive effort forced them to shoot from long range or through traffic.  Freshman Sophia Slora (Wenatchee, Wash. / Wenatchee) recorded a game high of two blocked shots on back-to-back attempts.

Caltech got on the board with a goal in the opening period by sophomore Riya Shrivastava (Saratoga, Calif. / Lynbrook), with an assist by fellow sophomore Emma Gurcan (Portland, Ore. / Lincoln), who drew two defenders in close before setting up Shrivastava on the outside. 

A few minutes into the second quarter, sophomore Tyler Fox (Cos Cob, Conn. / Greenwich) drew an exclusion against a Pomona-Pitzer defender, and then Gurcan found junior Amanda Piyapanee (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) open to shoot and score while Caltech had the advantage.

Gurcan then continued her contributions on offense with a team-high three goals, netting one just a couple minutes later on an assist from Slora. She scored her second goal in the fourth quarter with Shrivastava assisting, and finished her hat trick with a five-meter penalty goal with just under three minutes to play. In all, she had three goals, two assists, two steals, and a program record of seven drawn exclusions.

Head Coach Jon Bonafede and the Beavers face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the road for their next game, Wednesday, Mar. 30 at 7 p.m.