PASADENA, Calif. — The Caltech women's water polo team faced off against the No. 2 Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Wednesday night in an interconference clash at Braun Pool.

The Beavers battled valiantly against the nationally-ranked opponent as Caltech nabbed its third-highest goal total of the year, scoring 11 times against the undefeated foe in 32 minutes of action.

Sophomore attacker Madelyn Gilbert (Clovis, Calif. / Clovis East) made history in the contest as she recorded a school-record and game-high seven assists. The standout is now up to a team-high 25 assists on the season and 48 for her career.

Sophomore center Mia Mutadich (London, U.K. / Notting Hill and Earling) led all players from both teams in scoring as she put through a season-high seven goals — the most of any Beaver in a single game this spring.

It was the Athenas who produced the first two scores of the contest though Caltech soon responded as senior attacker Emma Gurcan (Istanbul, Turkey / Lincoln HS) found Mutadich inside for the goal.

Mutadich found her second score in the second quarter as Gilbert fed the center for the score; the duo again linked later in the period for Caltech's third goal.

The Beavers added three goals in the third period, with the first score coming on a powerplay situation as Gilbert drew an exclusion before finding Gurcan; the two linked again on their next possession for another goal. A few minutes later, Mutadich scored off a pass from Gurcan.

Caltech played some of their strongest water polo of the game in the fourth quarter as they outscored the visitors 5-2 across the eight minutes of play. Mutadich found the back of the net in the opening possession of the quarter after Gurcan drew an exclusion before Gilbert passed to her for the goal; Gilbert assisted Mutadich for the team's eighth goal at the 5:29 mark.

Gurcan put a score through at 2:19 after Gilbert fed her the ball before sophomore utility Maya Dickson (Atlanta, Ga. / North Atlanta) got involved in the scoring with the pass from Gurcan.

Mutadich scored her final goal on a successful penalty shot after drawing the exclusion with one second remaining in the game.

Gilbert tops the previous single-game assists record of six, held by herself and Mary Boyajian '17; the record-breaker also notched four drawn exclusions.

Mutadich led all players with her season-high seven goals while Gurcan finished the evening with three goals and three assists.

Rookie attacker Emma Titus (Hood River, Ore. / Hood River Valley) won two of her three sprints.

The Beavers will now focus on their final home contest of 2024 as they take on the University of Redlands Bulldogs this Saturday, Apr. 13 at 11 a.m. as part of Orange Out. Cheer on the squad in person and follow along online at gocaltech.com/coverage.

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