Author: Alex Nieves
he Occidental College women’s water polo season is well underway, as the team has already played in a myriad of tournaments and non-conference matches. The Tigers opened up their 2013 conference schedule with a 15-12 victory against No. 3 ranked Cal Lutheran in a high stakes match last Wednesday.
Occidental entered the game ranked No. 5 in the nation for Division III with a 6-14 record that may seem underwhelming to the naked eye. In reality, the Tigers have played a grueling early season schedule that has included top competition from both Division I and Division II schools. Cal Lutheran posed yet another obstacle for Occidental, but the Tigers were able to overcome the Regals. Head coach Larry Zubrin saw the win as vital step for the team moving forward.
“This win was incredibly important,” Zubrin said. “We’ve been through a very difficult and challenging season. We knew this was going to be a tough team to beat, and we stepped up, played to our potential, got some enthusiasm going and it was a really good team win for us.”
Occidental started the game off in impressive fashion as center Nanea Fujiyama (senior) put the first goal into the back of the net only 47 seconds into play. Fujiyama did not let up after her fast start as she scored two more goals in the first quarter and eventually led the Tigers in scoring with five goals.
“We’ve had a bit of a rocky road this season, but we finally started to pick up some momentum in the past couple games,” Fujiyama said. “We knew it was going to carry us through this game.”
Along with Fujiyama, Lindsay Albino (junior) posted a hat trick while attacker Kelsey Shyba (junior) also posted a multi-goal performance with two goals.
On the defensive side, the Tigers’ All-American goalie, Rachel Adeleye (senior), consistently made huge saves. Adeleye finished the game with a total of 13 saves, including a few crucial ones in the waning moments of the match. Afterwards, Adeleye was praised by her teammates for her gutsy performance.
“It was one of the first times this season that we played so cohesively on both offense and defense,” Fujiyama said. “I especially have to give credit to [Adeleye]. She stepped up amazingly, adjusting to what they were doing.”
Adeleye is not ready to have one game make the team complacent. After the game, she stressed that the team cannot let up in their intensity and cohesiveness until the season ends.
The Tigers led the game from wire to wire and held a 14-8 margin with just under seven minutes of play left in the contest. Cal Lutheran made the last few minutes very uncomfortable for Zubrin and his squad, scoring four goals and cutting the lead to two. But the Regals were not able to close out the game. Morgan McClafferty (junior) put the finishing touches on Occidental’s win with a goal at the 2:23 minute mark.
Zubrin emphasized the fact the his team needs to stay focused and that, in a stacked SCIAC conference with five teams at the top of Division III, anybody has a chance to win it all.
“Nothing is ever set in stone,” he said. “It is anybody’s game until the very end.”
The Tigers’ next conference match is today, as the team travels to face the University of Redlands. Their next home game is against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 11 a.m.
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