Panthers knock off La Verne, lose close game to Gannon

ORANGE, Calif. - On the second day of the Chapman University Water Polo Tournament at the Allred Aquatics Center, the women's water polo team came away with a split, losing its first game 8-6 to Gannon University and then beating the University of La Verne 20-10.

Game 1: Gannon University 8, Chapman University 6

For the second game in a row, Chapman ran into tough NCAA Division II competition as they lost a close match 8-6 to Gannon University. The Golden Knights led from start to finish as they built a 4-2 halftime lead behind the play of sophomore Colleen Harriger who had two goals during that stretch and a team-high three for the game.

Down 4-2 to start the third quarter, Chapman (1-2) gave up consecutive goals as Gannon's lead grew to 6-2 with 4:23 remaining in the quarter. The Panthers then went on a 4-1 run over the next eight minutes led by sophomore driver Briana O'Keefe's two goals which narrowed the Golden Knights lead to 7-6 with 4:38 remaining in the game. O'Keefe finished with three scores to go along with two assists and one steal for the Panthers.

Gannon (1-9) senior Annie Greenhill scored the first goal of the game and she also scored the last as she ended Chapman's comeback bid, scoring with 1:17 left in the game.

 
Score by Quarters                    1          2          3          4          Final  
Gannon (1-9)                            3          1          3          1            8
Chapman (1-2)                         1          1          2          2            6       

GU Goals: Harriger (3), Casale (2) Greenhill (2), Steininger
CU Goals: O'Keefe (3), Graham, Marganian, Worthington

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/wwaterpolo/2009-10/stats/gu-cu.pdf

Game 2: Chapman University 20, University of La Verne 10

In the second game of the day, Chapman overcame an early 1-0 deficit to score 20 goals as they nearly topped their entire offensive output for the first three games of the tournament. In their previous three games, the Panthers offense managed 21 goals.

Chapman (2-2) lead 9-4 at halftime but quickly put the game out of reach for La Verne (0-3) as they went on a 6-2 run to start the third quarter. Freshman reserve goalie Alicia Wei played the entire second half holding the Leopards to six goals. La Verne sophomore drivers Diane Aguayo and Elizabeth Roberts lead the team offensively with four and three goals, respectively.

For the Panthers, a season-high 11 different players put the ball in the net as freshman utility Samantha Martin and sophomore driver Fernanda Gallo Moreno each had a team-high four goals while three different players had three assists.

Score by Quarters                      1          2          3          4          Final  
La Verne (0-3)                            2          2          2          4          10
Chapman (2-2)                           5          4          5          6          20       

ULV Goals: Aguayo (4), Roberts (3), Forsberg, Johnstone, Moreno

CU Goals: Martin (4), Moreno (4), Hawkins (2), McLaughlin (2), Worthington (2), Burchfiel, Carson, Lee, O'Keefe, Sheehan, Roy

Boxscore:  http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/wwaterpolo/2009-10/stats/ulv-cu.pdf

by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant