CLAREMONT, Calif. — The Division III No. 5-ranked Augustana College women’s water polo team split the final day of the Coverage Tournament as the Vikings fell to the Division III No. 3 California Lutheran University Regals, 11-6, before taming the host/Division III No. 6 Occidental College Tigers, 12-8, at the De Mandel Aquatics Center.
After a scoreless four minutes against Cal Lutheran, Anais Jones found the back of the net first prior to Jersey Merrick following two minutes later to grab an early advantage. Cal Lutheran remained at a goose egg until 50 seconds on the clock to create a 2-1 score after eight minutes of action.
In the second quarter, both teams defended shots until 3:36 when the Regals scored and tallied another a minute later to overtake the game 3-2. Both teams traded shots in the final two minutes of the first half, with Braelyn Hill leveling the game after a successful shot on a penalty attempt. Cal Lutheran tallied another before Carli Udovich closed out the second quarter with a goal to draw the score even at four-all.
Returning to action, Alayna Ickert kicked off the scoring with 5:30 led on the third quarter clock to regain the upper hand. The Regals followed with two goals in the final two minutes of the frame to push ahead by a 6-5 count heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Cal Lutheran outscored Augie 5-1 to pull away for the win. Waiahuli Akau obtained the final goal for the Vikings to conclude the game with a final score of 11-6.
Six different Vikings scored, while Akau collected two assists. Hill and Maya Biela snagged a pair of steals and Susan Palmentera-Reid saved 10 shots.
In the Augustana’s weekend finale facing Occidental, Augie kicked off the game with a goal from Emma Blezien. Both teams offenses stalled for five minutes before Hailey Sherman collected her first goal of the day. The Tigers grabbed their first goal at 1:11, but Augie followed with two more in the final minutes. Akau found the back of the net with 58 seconds on the clock before Blezien scored a buzzer-beater to make a 4-1 game after eight minutes of play.
In the second quarter, neither team found the back of the net until Sherman at 3:40. Akau put up another successful shot a minute later. Occidental found two more in the final minute before Akau scored another buzzer-beater for Augie to set the scoreboard at 7-3 in favor of the Vikings heading into halftime.
Both teams traded shots in the third quarter with Augie collecting just one more. The Tigers scored first before Abigail Gatlin dented the twine. Occidental earned another goal, and the Vikings followed with back-to-back successful shots from Jones and Blezien. The Tigers nailed a buzzer-beater goal to create a 10-6 game going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, neither team scored until Udovich at 4:10 via a penalty shot before Mary King added a marker to the scoresheet two minutes later. Occidental tallied two in the final two minutes, but the Vikings rolled to a 12-8 victory.
Seven Vikings scored in the win, with Blezien and Akau posting three apiece. Jones collected two assists and Palmentera-Reid saved 13 attempts.
With the split record, Augie moves to 9-3 on the season.
Information courtesy Augustana College Athletics Communications
