Water polo drops hard-fought battle to CMS

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University women's water polo team fell 11-7 in a hard-fought battle with the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas. Chelsea Farinaro made six saves to help the Panthers keep pace with the visitors.

The match started in a defensive struggle with neither team cracking the scoreboard until CMS' Courtney Coleman with 1:59 to go in the first. Charlene Ma answered 30 seconds later, taking advantage of Chapman's first 6-on-5 opportunity. The Athenas scored again just before the buzzer to take a 2-1 lead.

CMS went on to score the first three goals of the second quarter to build a 4-1 lead and never trailed on the way to the win. The Panthers continued to claw back into the game. Goals from Kasey Markell and Jaime Chin made it a one-goal game although CMS led by two at halftime.

Both teams netted four goals in the third as Markell scored her second goal just before the end of the third quarter to make it 9-7. CMS stepped up the defense in the fourth, not allowing a Panther goal.

Farinaro made six big saves in goal, including turning away a five-meter shot to keep Chapman within three goals at the time. Markell and Ally Long led Chapman with two goals apiece.

The Panthers hit the road for the next week at Whittier on Saturday and at La Verne next Wednesday. They return home April 2 to take on Pomona-Pitzer in a weekend match under the lights at 7 p.m.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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