PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech women's water polo team competed in its first home contest of the 2024 season on Tuesday as the Beavers hosted the Penn State Behrend Lions in an evening nonconference showdown.

Caltech got off to a hot start as senior attacker Emma Gurcan (Istanbul, Turkey / Lincoln HS) found sophomore center Mia Mutadich (London, U.K. / Notting Hill and Earling) for a well-placed goal to put Caltech up 1-0 within the first minute.

The Beavers went on to score on three straight possessions a few minutes later to electrify the fans at Braun Pool. Gurcan scored at the 4:53 mark after receiving the feed from sophomore attacker Madelyn Gilbert (Clovis, Calif. / Clovis East) before Gurcan made it two scores in a row 56 seconds later, with senior attacker Tyler Fox (Cos Cobb, Conn. / Greenwich) assisting  on the goal.

A score from Gilbert off an assist from sophomore utility Maya Dickson (Atlanta, Ga. / North Atlanta) put Caltech up 4-0 at the 3:16 mark of the period.

The visitors found their first goal on their next possession before the quarter came to a close.

The second period opened with an unassisted goal from Gilbert; Dickson found her first score of the evening at the 4:23 mark.

The Beavers kept up the scoring in the third period as Gurcan again connected with Mutadich inside, who rocketed a shot into the back of the net. Caltech took advantage of a powerplay situation a few minutes later as Fox scored off the pass from Gilbert, who picked up another goal herself with just two seconds remaining in the quarter.

With the Beavers down 10-9 entering the final period of regulation, the team needed to outscore the guests by at least one to force overtime. The team tied the game up with a clutch score from Gurcan at the 4:39 mark after receiving the feed from Gilbert, before Gilbert found Gurcan for a clutch goal two possessions later to put the Beavers up one. The Lions produced one more goal in the closing minutes to push the game to an extra period.

Penn State Behrend connected for two goals to start overtime but first-year attacker Emma Titus (Hood River, Ore. / Hood River Valley) answered with a score of her own to put Caltech back within one. Dickson connected with Mutadich with 1:58 remaining to tie the contest at 13-13.

The two teams continued to trade goals, with the Lions scoring at the 1:07 mark before Dickson earned a critical five-meter goal with 42 seconds remaining to tie the game at 14-14. The visitors scored one more goal with 25 seconds to go before the final buzzer sounded.

Gilbert led the group in scoring with four goals; Gurcan and Mutadich added three a piece. Gilbert, Gurcan and Dickson each notched three assists with Gilbert and Dickson leading the team in steals with three.

In net, junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Field (Charlottesville, Va. / Monticello) saved three shots in 16 minutes while sophomore Mahi Ravi (Mountain View, Calif. / Saratoga) saved 10 shots in 22 minutes.

The Beavers shot .412 from the field and won all but one sprint.

The squad will now focus on toppling a conference foe at home as they kick off SCIAC play in less than 24 hours against the Occidental College Tigers. Action begins on Wednesday, Mar. 6 at 7 p.m. Cheer on the Beavers in person and follow along online at gocaltech.com/coverage.

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