PASADENA, Calif. (Mar. 9, 2022) - Caltech's women's water polo took to the pool at home on Wednesday night in search of their first SCIAC win of the season when they hosted the Chapman University Panthers.  Unfortunately for the Caltech players and supporters, the visitors from Orange proved to be inhospitable guests, as they tripped up the Beavers 15-4, improving to 7-8, (1-1 SCIAC) while dropping Caltech to 1-7 (0-3 SCIAC) on the season.

In spite of the final result, there were several shining moments for the women of Caltech, including the fact that they outscored the Panthers 3-2 in the fourth and final quarter.  The Beavers were led on offense on the night, and in the final frame, by junior utility player Amanda Piyapanee (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) who potted two goals on eight shots, scoring both of her goals in the fourth with less than five minutes remaining as Caltech worked furiously to get back into the game.

"This group is really working hard, and are extremely coachable," Head Coach Jon Bonafede said.  "Although the result tonight isn't what we wanted, our shot selection is getting much better, our offense and defense are improving, and we are setting the foundation for some future success." 

The night started impressively for Caltech, as they defended well early, only trailing 2-1 with nearly six minutes gone in the first period, when sophomore attacker Riya Shrivastava (Saratoga, Calif. / Lynbrook) fired home a shot from in front, deftly beating the Chapman netminder.  Two late goals by the Panthers in the final two minutes turned the 2-1 Caltech deficit to 4-1, creating a more challenging mountain for the home team to climb in the final three periods.

The second and third periods were all Chapman, as the Beavers work rate was impressive, but failed to yield the results they sought.  In spite of the effort, Caltech conceeded 12 unanswered goals, and trailed 14-1 when Piyapanee found the back of the cage with just over four minutes remaining.  Senior goaltender Zoe Rock (Chappaqua, N.Y. /Horace Greeley) made five saves on the evening, and added two steals on wayward outlet passes that she intercepted.  Her outlet passing also kickstarted numerous Caltech attacks.  

Sophomore attacker Emma Gurcan (Portland, Ore. / Lincoln) was the only other Beaver to score,  firing a shot that beat the Chapman goalie to make the score 14-3 with just over three minutes remaining in the contest. 

Cutting down on exclusions that lead to player advantage sets for their opponents is something that the coaches and team members will continue to look to improve upon as the season rolls forward.  Chapman was 4-for-7 on the power-play, providing a significant portion of the goal differential between the two sides.

Head Coach Bonafede, assistant coach Lindsay Garcia and the rest of the Caltech women's water polo program will look to bulid on the positives from their first eight games as they get into the teeth of conference play.  Next up is a SCIAC matchup with the Redlands University Bulldogs on Saturday, March 12.  The game begins at 11:00 am in Braun Pool on the Caltech campus.  Admission is free, but the game will also be lifestreamed, as well as live statted without charge at www.GoCaltech.com.