Women's Water Polo Upsets Redlands

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (April 12, 2007) - Occidental women's water polo defeated second-ranked Redlands 10-9 Wednesday, April 11 at Thompson Aquatic Center, the Tigers' first victory at Redlands in program history.

Occidental, ranked seventh by the Collegiate Water Polo Association, improved to 13-13 overall and moved into a three-way tie for second place with Whittier and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the league standings.

The Tigers have now won two of the last five meetings with Redlands, the defending Collegiate III national champions.

Sara Boehler '09 and Ashley Notti '09 scored twice in a run of five unanswered goals in the second quarter. Redlands stormed back with three goals in the first three minutes of the third but Notti scored her third of the match with 1:51 remaining, giving Occidental a one-goal lead it would never relinquish.

Danielle Montenegro '08 put the Tigers up two early in the fourth and a pair of goals by Montenegro and Kelly Curtin gave Occidental a commanding 10-7 lead with 4:39 remaining. Redlands would score twice more but the Tiger defense stepped up in the final two minutes to preserve the win.

Goalie Laura Simanonok '09 made ten saves to move her season total to 259, just 51 away from the single-season record (310) set by Jackie Provost in 2000.

Montenegro brought her season scoring total to 67, currently ninth in the nation, while Boehler moved into the top 20 with 54.

Occidental hosts Caltech (0-9, 0-4 SCIAC) this Saturday at 11am at Taylor Pool, followed by the annual alumni match at 1pm. One lucky fan will win the opportunity to take a shot against Provost, a four-time All-American, at halftime.