CLAREMONT/LOS ANGELES/LA VERNE, Calif. — Carthage College took defeats versus the California Institute of Technology, 13-8, Division III No. 7 Chapman University, 12-3, Division III No. 4 Whittier College, 17-2, and Division III No. 9 University of Redlands, 21-1, at the 2022 Convergence Tournament hosted by Division III No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, Division III No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Division III No. 6 the University of La Verne and Division III No. 10 Occidental College on Friday-Saturday, March 4-5.
On Friday, March 4, the Firebirds were unable to outperform the Poets of Whittier as the team fell behind 8-0 by the conclusion of the first quarter on the way to a 17-2 setback at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ Axelrood Aquatics Center.
Trailing 11-1 at halftime as Alyssa Sayatovic punched in Carthage’s tally in the first half with 3:29 left in the second quarter, the Firebirds went down 16-1 by the conclusion of the third quarter.
Trailing 17-1 with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter, Carthage garnered its second goal as Sayatovic buried a chance with 6:10 on the clock for the final score.
In cage, Evelyn Kajohn made four saves to take the loss.
For Whittier, Madeline Olivas led the way with three tallies, while Amelia Bennett, Katelyn Arauz, Grace Arnsparger and Alex Lopez each accounted for pairs. Haley Kivett, Teresa Marchetti, Bryanna Santis, Amanda Hernandez, Ally Burke and Nathasha Velez each deposited solo scores in support of a 12 save performance in cage by Lauren Tapia.
Taking on Redlands later in the day at La Verne’s Las Flores Pool, Carthage could not keep pace with the Bulldogs in a 21-1 loss.
Trailing 4-0 at the conclusion of the first quarter, Gladys Contreras put the Firebirds on the board with 7:27 left in the second quarter to raise the possibility of a comeback.
However, Redlands closed out the first half with a 5-0 scoring run to acquire a 9-1 lead by the break. Following halftime, the game was all Bulldogs as Redlands pumped in six markers during both the third and fourth quarters to finish the contest on a 17-0 scoring outburst.
Kajohn stopped three shots for Carthage.
On the other end of the tank, Holly Kvanvig fired home five goals and Hannah Long tallied a trio. Sofia Portello, Emma Parker, Christine Chua and Breanna Bailey each posted a pair to accompany single strikes by Rachel Lamb, Emily Feliciano, Sydney Sereg, Anika Lundbaek and Courtney Sawin.
Tori Zielinski earned the win with five saves.
On Saturday, March 5, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) exploited 5-3, 3-2 and 2-1 scoring advantages in the second, third and fourth quarters, respectively, to overcome Carthage by a 13-8 count at Occidental’s De Mandel Aquatics Center.
Carthage claimed an early 1-0 lead as Katlynn LaGrone scored 50 seconds into the game. Back-to-back Beavers’ scores turned the tide in favor of Caltech, but Contreras delivered a response at 3:04 to even the damage at two-all.
However, Caltech began to pull away as a tally by Tyler Fox with 2:43 left on the opening frame’s clock provided the Beavers a 3-2 lead after eight minutes of action. The margin expanded to 6-2 with 6:04 left in the second quarter before Sayatovic cut Caltech’s lead to 6-3 at the 5:31 mark.
Sydney Logan moved Carthage within a pair at 6-4 with 3:51 remaining until halftime, but another score by Fox at 2:20 terminated the Firebirds’ momentum. Kayli Sayatovic buried a five-meter penalty shot with 22 seconds left in the second quarter to inch Carthage back to within a pair at 7-5, but Fox rifled in a shot that beat the buzzer for an 8-5 spread after 16 minutes of play.
Alyssa Sayatovic attempted to ignite another Carthage rally by torquing home a score at 6:53, but Emma Gurcan (5:12), Amanda Piyapanee (4:24, 2:10) accounted for a three-goal outburst to help build an 11-6 lead for the Beavers.
Izzy Bertaud trimmed Carthage’s deficit back to four at 11-7 prior to the conclusion of the third quarter by putting away a shot with 56 seconds on the clock, but Fox (6:09) delivered a counter blow with 6:09 left in the fourth quarter to return Caltech’s lead to five at 12-7.
The teams traded scores by Contreras (3:38) and Yuying Lin (1:58) over the remainder of regulation for the 13-8 final.
For Carthage, Alyssa (two) and Kayli (one) Sayatovic combined for three goals. Contreras notched a pair with Bertaud, LaGrone and Logan each accounting for single markers in support of a three save effort by Kajohn.
For Caltech, Fox finished with five goals. Gurcan (four), Piyapanee (two), Lin (one) and Lana Lubecke (one) accounted for the remainder of the Beavers’ offense. Zoe Rock earned the win with nine saves.
The weekend concluded at De Mandel as Chapman built a 4-0 lead in the first quarter and a 9-1 margin by halftime in rolling to a 12-3 win.
For Carthage, Kayli Sayatovic, Contreras and Logan each netted solo scores. Kajohn made three saves with 12 goals allowed in three quarters of work prior to Taylor Woitesek stopping five shots in the fourth quarter.
Charlene Ma (four), Julia Bridges (three), Ceci Buckingham (two), Ally Long (one), Grace Stuart (one) and Kasey Markell (one) comprised Chapman’s scorers with Chelsea Farinaro making four saves to earn the victory.
