Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Ani Marganian
Ani Marganian
Posted: Mar 26, 2011

Marganian sets single-game school assist record as Panthers split two

Box Score Box Score

ORANGE, Calif. – Led by the unselfish play of sophomore utility Ani Marganian who had 12 assists in two games – including a school-record eight in the morning match – the Chapman University women's water polo team split a pair of games on Saturday at the Allred Aquatics Center. The Panthers dropped the morning game 17-11 to Azusa Pacific but came back in the afternoon match to top the University of Utah club team 12-7.

Game 1: Azusa Pacific 17, Chapman 11
Despite a school-record eight assists from Marganian, the Panthers were unable to top the Cougars even after leading for much of the first half. Marganian's eight assists breaks the previous record of seven which was set in 2009 by junior 2M Stephanie Roy and tied by freshman Allison Harf on March 16 against Macalester College.

Chapman (8-12) led 2-0 at the end of the first quarter and by a score of 5-3 in the second quarter after a goal freshman utility Juliana Botting who had three scores in the game. Azusa Pacific (13-11) then ran off three-straight goals over the final four minutes of the second quarter to take a 6-5 halftime lead. Senior 2M Ashley Elven had two of her team-high four goals during the run, including the go-ahead score 13 seconds before the break.

The Cougars began the second half with back-to-back goals from freshman 2M Alyssa Hess and senior utility Michelle Lutz to take command of the game at 8-5. Elven and and Lutz led the Cougars with four goals each while sophomore utility Sam Martin had a team-high four for the Panthers.

Game 2: Chapman 12, Utah (Club) 7
Once again the Panthers led 2-0 after the first quarter and allowed its opponent to make a run and take a lead. Chapman led 4-2 midway through the second quarter after a goal by sophomore 2M Emma Carson but Utah rallied to tie the score 4-4 with 1:50 before halftime. Marganian then gave the Panthers a 5-4 lead with 46 seconds remaining before halftime.

With the score tied at five with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter, Chapman scored three goals in the span of a minute to push their lead to 8-5. Two of the goals came from sophomore driver Sami McLaughlin who finished with four in the game and six on the day. Utah answered with a goal to narrow the score to 8-6 with 2:35 remaining in the third quarter which is as close as they would get for the remaineder of the game. Chapman then closed out the win by scoring four of the game's final five goals.

Today's win over Utah is the third win this season over a club team as the Panthers defeated both the U.C. Irvine and Loyola Marymount club teams earlier this season.

by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant