LA VERNE, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran women's water polo team clinched the No. 2 seed in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament as the Regals took down the La Verne Leopards 11-6 Wednesday afternoon at the Las Flores Pool.
The win is CLU's 20th of the year. It is only the third time in program history that the Regals have eclipsed the 20-win mark. They also accomplished the feat in 2007 and 2010. CLU is now 20-7 overall and 12-1 in SCIAC play. La Verne falls to 8-16 and 5-9 in the conference.
Cal Lutheran's Nikki Roed scored a game-high four goals. Megan Seeman and Mackenzie Thomas each added two goals. Avery Karich, Kristi McGee and Victoria Rose Meek each chipped in one. McGee kept the offense going with two assists and Christin Hirn, Karich and Roed all had one.
Defensively, Seeman led the defense with two steal. Five more Regals each had one. Bailey Meyer was in the cage for the whole game and made 12 saves. She added two assists and one steal.
CLU got on the board first as Seeman found the back of the net two and a half minutes into the game. The Leopards were quick to answer and scored a goal on the ensuing play. Thomas put the Regals back up as she threw the ball past the goalkeeper with. After an exclusion by ULV, Cal Lutheran took advantage as Seeman scored to give CLU a 3-1 lead after one.
Defense was a big part of the second quarter. Both teams went scoreless for the first four and a half minutes. Meek was the first person to score and put CLU up 4-1 with 3:08 left in the half. La Verne then cut into the deficit and made it 4-2 with 2:32 left. Neither team would score for the rest of the quarter and the Regals had a 4-2 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, it was all Roed and the Regals. Roed scored goals on back-to-back possessions and the Leopard took a timeout. La Verne had its chances to score but Meyer shutout the Leopards in the third. The defense turned into offense for the Regals as Thomas made it a 7-2 lead with 1:20 left in the third.
Roed tallied her hat trick as she scored the first goal of the fourth quarter. A few plays later, La Verne scored, but McGee was right there with her first goal and CLU was up 9-3. Roed and Karich scored a goal down the final stretch and La Verne added three of their own as CLU won the game 11-6.
Cal Lutheran has one more game left in the regular season. The Regals celebrate Senior Day on Saturday and host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 11 a.m.
Results: CLU 11, ULV 6
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
