Women's Water Polo Team Defense Improves in First Day of Claremont Convergence

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Mar. 4, 2022) –Caltech faced off Friday afternoon against the Scots of Macalester College from Saint Paul, Minnesota in the Beavers' first contest of the Claremont Convergence tournament.

Team defense was key to the team's improvement, remarked Head Coach Jon Bonafede after the game. Indeed, Caltech held Macalester to fewer shots than any opponent so far this season, and the Beavers even out-shot the Scots 21-16 despite the final score.

Sophomore Emma Gurcan (Portland, Ore. / Lincoln) shined on both sides of the pool, with game-highs of five steals and five drawn exclusions to create numerous offensive opportunities. She also put her team on the scoreboard with a late goal in the third.

Late in the fourth quarter, sophomore Tyler Fox (Cos Cob, Conn. / Greenwich) drew her second exclusion of the game, which proved critical in opening up a lane for Yuying Lin (Scarborough, Ontario / Victoria Park C.I.) to fire and score her first goal of the season just four seconds after the excluded Macalester player was waved back in.

Bonafede said that while luck just wasn't on the Beavers' side, especially during a stretch of the third quarter in which Caltech had four consecutive quality possessions on offense, there were stretches when they were clearly the better team and played more cohesively overall.

After a midday break, the Beavers were back in the pool against the Wittenberg Tigers of Springfield, Ohio.  Gurcan fired a majority of the Beavers' shots, scoring two goals in the game. Senior attacker Isabella Dula (Tuscaloosa, Ala. / Maggie L. Walker) also had a pair of goals from just two shots on net.  Lin and Sophia Slora scored a goal apiece, with Lin additionally picking up an assist. Rock had eight saves, two steals in front of the cage, and assisted on Gurcan's goal in the fourth quarter.

The Beavers are back in action Saturday to face Carthage College (Kenosha, Wisc.) and McKendree University (Lebanon, Ill.).