by Chrissy Zehrbach
Assistant Editor
The University of La Verne women’s water polo team went 1-1 in its first week of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competitions. The Leopards suffered a loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Saturday, 7-5, but came back Wednesday to defeat Occidental College, 6-3.
ULV jumped on a lead early in the first quarter Wednesday in Los Angeles. Both their offense and defense thrived as the Leopards scored the first two goals of the game, and held Occidental scoreless.
“We came out and had a lot of energy right from the start,” said head coach Tim Hugar. “We were very active on defense, and we made a couple shots early and took them out of the defense they wanted to run.”
The Tigers scored two goals of their own in the second quarter, while ULV managed only one, but retained their lead at halftime, 3-2.
Neither team could produce a goal in the third quarter, but the Leopards came roaring back in the fourth. ULV increased their lead by three goals, only allowing the Tigers one.
ULV took home the win 6-3.
“We were stronger, smarter and faster against Occidental,” said Jacy Mackey, senior. “We outplayed them the whole game.”
Senior Jennifer Brady led in scoring for the Leopards with three goals, followed by senior Jennifer Pacheco with two goals and senior Michelle Marks with one.
Saturday’s loss to CMS in Claremont was a tough battle for the Leopards. ULV never strayed too far from their opponent in the game, but could not pull out a win.
In the first quarter ULV trailed by one point, 2-1.
The Leopards matched their opponent with two goals each in the second quarter, resulting in a halftime score of 4-3 in favor of the Athenas.
“It was inconsistent,” Mackey said. “Sometimes we outplayed them, and sometimes they outplayed us.”
The Athenas outplayed ULV once again in the third quarter putting two additional points on the board, while the Leopards only managed one goal.
Both teams added one goal to their score in the fourth quarter. One was not enough for ULV as CMS maintained their lead and clenched the win 7-5.
“It was definitely a competitive game,” Hugar said. “We had our opportunities; we just had a difficult time with a few of our shots, but we played great defense.”
Leading in scoring for the Leopards were Marks and Brady, who each contributed two goals. Rounding out the scoring was senior Emily Tollefson with one goal.
In defensive efforts, sophomore goalie Jessica Figgins tallied 12 saves for the Leopards.
With a 1-1 SCIAC record, the Leopards stand 7-10 overall, with a No. 5 ranking in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s National Collegiate Women’s Division III Top 10 Poll for the week ending April 9.
“We’re playing a little better than I thought we would,” Hugar said. “We’ve taken it up a level.”
The Leopards conclude the first round of SCIAC competition this week. They will face Whittier College at 11 a.m., tomorrow in Whittier, University of Redlands at 11 a.m., Sunday at the La Verne Aquatic Center and Pomona-Pitzer at 5 p.m., Wednesday at the LVAC.
“They’re all going to be pretty tough games,” Hugar said.
Redlands will most likely be the toughest competition for the Leopards.
The Bulldogs were SCIAC champions last year, as well as Division III National Champions.
“Redlands will be a tough game,” Mackey said. “If we play well like we have been, we should play a pretty good game.”
