PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech women's water polo team earned its first win of the season as the Beavers defeated the visiting Grove City Wolverines in first home game of the season. The home squad escaped with a 10-9 victory in  a competitive, back-and-forth battle.

The Beavers struck first in the matchup after junior center defender Riya Shrivastava found the back of the net with 4:17 to go in in the opening period. Grove City tied it up a few minutes later, but Caltech took a 3-1 lead before the quarter's end, thanks to a goal from senior utility Amanda Piyapanee and another from Shrivastava.

The second quarter belonged to the Wolverines, who outscored the Beavers 4-3 in the quarter to trail by just one goal at the halftime break. Piyapanee netted two more goals for Caltech in the period, while first-year center attacker Mia Mutadich scored once.

After tying the game at 6-6 and again at 7-7, Grove City went up for the first time in the middle of the third period, netting a powerplay goal to claim an 8-7 lead over the Beavers at the 2:58 mark. The two teams held each other scoreless for the next five and a half minutes of game time spanning into the fourth quarter before Mutatich buried her second goal of the night to tie the game at 8-8.

Just before the halfway mark of the final period, first-year driver Madelyn Gilbert drew a five-meter penalty against the Wolverines, and rookie Maya Dickson converted her penalty shot to reclaim the lead. Both sides of the pool saw strong defense and big saves for the next few minutes until Dickson found the cage again for the eventual game-winner at 1:27. Down by two goals with little time left, Grove City played with an empty net and brought their goal up as an extra attacker and paid off with a late goal, but Caltech held the ball and prevented the Wolverines from getting one last shot at tying it back up. The crowded pool deck erupted in cheers as the final buzzer sounded and the Beavers were victorious, 10-9.

"The team's in really good spirits," Head Coach Jon Bonafede said of the victory. "It was a great win because it was a collective effort, with both goalies playing and statistical contributions from everybody. It was good to see some of our first-year players score some really clutch goals. We really want to come back tomorrow night and repeat."

The Beavers take the pool again Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Penn State Behrend.