PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech women's water polo team played their second game in two days on Tuesday night at home in Braun Pool, where they bested the Penn St.-Behrend Lions by a score of 17-11. With the win, the Beavers protect their undefeated home record (2-0).
Coming off a big win versus Grove City just over 24 hours earlier, the home team rolled right back into rhythm in Tuesday's game with three straight goals in the first period. The scoring barrage began just ten seconds into the contest, as senior utility Amanda Piyapanee found rookie center attack Mia Mutadich, who put it up and in the back of the net.
It wasn't long before the Beavers scored again, as junior driver Tyler Fox notched an impressive goal just over a minute later. Mutadich would go on to score yet again a few possessions later, giving Caltech a 3-0 advantage.
A goal by the Lions would make it a 3-1 game, but the score was immediately answered by yet another goal by Fox with an assist from first-year center defender Maya Dickson. The home squad really opened up the lead less than a 45 seconds later, as center defender Riya Shrivastava got in the scoring mix with a goal of her own after getting fed the pass from Piyapanee.
Penn St.-Behrend closed the gap with two quick goals before the quarter's close, making a 5-3 game at the sound of the first horn.
The second period began as the first one did, with the Beavers scoring first – this time, it was junior driver Emma Gurcan who found the net. The Lions immediately followed up with two goals of their own, but the end of the period belonged to the Beavers, who saw three straight goals thanks to Madelyn Gilbert, Piyapanee, and another from Gurcan. Caltech would go to the halftime break with a solid lead in a 9-5 game.
The Lions staged a comeback in the third quarter, holding the Beavers scoreless for almost five minutes while scoring three goals in just over a two-minute span, pulling within a goal of the lead. Piyapanee finally broke the Beavers' scoring drought, scoring two goals during a back-and-forth sequence that saw the guests come close with scores of 10-9 and 11-10. Fox would have the last word in the quarter, scoring with 19 seconds left to keep the opponents at bay, making it a 12-10 score at the intermission.
Then it was all Caltech in the fourth as Gilbert, Piyapanee and Gurcan each tallied goals before the guests found the net. It would be the Lions' last goal of the contest as the Beavers held them scoreless for the last 5:45 of the game, Mutadich and Gilbert adding a couple insurance goals before time expired.
Goalkeeper Mahi Ravi earned the win through her effective first half performance, with Gurcan minding the net for the third quarter and Elizabeth Field covering the cage in the fourth to preserve the win.
Head Coach Jon Bonafede and the Beavers wrap up their homestand Wednesday night at Braun Pool, opening SCIAC play against Whittier College at 7 p.m. Watch live at https://sciacnetwork.com/caltech and on the SCIAC Network app for mobile and smart TV devices.
