Water Polo Defeats Division I George Washington

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (March 19, 2009) – One day after pounding Macalester in Taylor Pool, the Occidental College Tigers outscored NCAA Division I George Washington 15-13 to claim back-to-back victories.

The teams were knotted at 4-4 after one period of play in which four different Tigers scored. Early Oxy trailed 2-0, but quickly Julie Monday got the Tigers on the board with her first of four goals in the game. Ashley Notti then tied things up at 2-2 with a five-meter shot.

In the second quarter of action Occidental opened things. The Tigers scored six goals while limiting the Colonials to just a pair. Monday again got things started, scoring the fifth Tiger goal of the game before senior Kelly Curtain netted back-to-back shots to give Oxy a 7-5 advantage. Monday added a pair more to total three in the second period as the Tigers took a 10-6 lead at the midway point of the game.

The teams exchanged two goals apiece in the third quarter. The final Oxy goal came by way of sophomore Perla Almaraz who shot from beyond half court with less than one second to play in the quarter.

In the final stanza the Colonials made a push, pulling within a pair in the end, but Occidental used the shot clock to their advantage in the final minutes to hang on for the win.

Oxy’s leading scorer Karie Nickle found the back of the net once in each quarter of action, in just five attempts. Curtain finished with three. Nickle led all players with five assists in the game while Curtain and freshman Tessa Bailey-Findley also supplied three assists apiece. Additionally, Curtain drew seven of the Tigers’ 13 ejections, which they were able to convert 6-on-5 situations for eight scores.

Defensively Notti stole the ball five times and Bailey-Findley finished with four steals. Notti recorded the only field block of the game as well.  

Guarding the cage today for the Tigers was senior Laura Simanonok who blocked six shots in the win.

Occidental improves to 9-8 overall and will enjoy an Alumni Saturday before returning to competition next Saturday, March 28 when they host the University of La Verne in the first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game of the season.