THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — It was a beautiful morning as California Lutheran University women's water polo honored their graduating class before a matchup with the Chapman Panthers. The game went to overtime as the Panthers outlasted the Regals 9-8.
The Regals' slump continued as they dropped to 13-10 and 6-5 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play.
Regals goalkeeper Izzy De Souza was a force in the cage and broke the school record for most saves with 19. The previous high was 18 which had been accomplished five times. She was big for the defense as she added five steals.
Senior Kemi Dijkstra led the way for the offense and recorded three goals and four drawn ejections. Jacsen Donohue was next with two and added two steals.
On the defensive end seniors Jess Diaz and Kaitlin Gardhouse had four and three steals, respectively. Taryn Sato and senior Rachel Ray added two steals each.
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead and scored the first two goals of the game. Cal Lutheran answered as Dijkstra put the Regals on the board. The Chapman defense was strong early, and the offense scored one more, as the Purple and Gold were in a 3-1 deficit after one quarter.
Chapman continued to outscore the Regals in the second. Diaz scored her first of the game and Dijkstra added her second, but the Panthers took 6-3 lead into the half.
The Regals defense then picked up in the second half as Cal Lutheran looked to get back in the game. Donohue got in on the scoring as the Regals trailed 6-4 with 6:03 to go in the third. The Regals continued to climb back in it as Dijkstra recorded a hat trick with 2:51 left in the third. The run was stopped by a Chapman goal and Cal Lutheran was right there with an answer. At the end of three quarters, Cal Lutheran trailed 7-5.
The Panthers opened the fourth with a goal and pushed their lead to 8-5. Ray made it 8-6 as she scored with five minutes to go. Cal Lutheran continued to get back in the game and made it a one-score game as Donohue made good on her opportunity. The next goal was the equalizer and it came from Katie Knight. A perfectly called play after a timeout tied the game 8-8 with 13 seconds left.
The game went to overtime and two three minute periods. At the end of the first overtime, the game was still tied. Chapman finally broke through in the second frame and had the lead with 1:26 left. Overtime came down to one last possession for the Regals as they called timeout with 22 seconds left. The final chance was no good and the Panthers outlasted the Regals.
The Regals have three games left in the regular season and hit the road for the next two. Cal Lutheran is at La Verne on Wednesday with the game set for 4 p.m.
Box Score: CU 9, CLU 8 – OT
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director