LOS ANGELES — The Occidental women's water polo team recognized seven graduating seniors prior to the start of its final home game of the season against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday.
The Class of 2014 marks the largest graduating class in more than 10 years for Tigers. It is also one of the most decorated in terms of team accomplishments.
As freshmen in 2010, the group helped the Tigers to a share of the SCIAC Championship while going undefeated during regular-season conference play. As sophomores in 2011, they helped to establish a school record with 23 wins in one season, which included a victory over No. 10-ranked NCAA Division I UC Santa Barbara. Last year they led the team to its fifth consecutive appearance in the semi-finals of the SCIAC Championship Tournament.
Although the Tigers weren't able to come away with a victory in their final game at Taylor Pool, falling 10-6 to the No.-1 ranked Athenas, the group seemed content with their experience playing in the friendly confines of Taylor Pool.
"Everyone in the water polo community knows our pool isn't normal for the sport," said senior and co-captain Lindsay Albino. "But what they don't realize is how much fun it is playing a game here. We always draw the biggest and wildest crowds. My fondest memories of playing water polo in college will be our home games here at Oxy. There's really nothing like it in college water polo. It makes you feel like you're a big-time athlete."
Like the many other home games played at Taylor pool, Wednesday's match-up was full of drama, grit and spectacular performances. In the end, a six-goal effort by CMS senior Candace Fillipelli proved to be the difference.
The three-time All-American also drew two exclusions, both of which led to goals, giving her a hand in eight of the teams 10 scores.
"We knew what to expect from (Fillipelli) but it didn't change our game plan," said Oxy head coach Larry Zubrin. "We went in playing man-to-man and if she had a great game, so be it. We still felt we had the fire power to get enough opportunities to score, which we did. We just didn't count on how well their goalie would play. It seemed like we had so many easy scoring chances and we just couldn't get it by her."
CMS goalie Alison Wu recorded 15 saves in the game as the Tigers out-shot the Athena's by a 31-18 margin. Oxy failed to convert on eight of 10 power plays, including two missed penalty shots.
"It was one of those hard-luck days," Zubrin added. "But as always, we fought hard and left everything in the pool with no regrets. It's a mark of these seniors. It'll be their legacy on the program."
The large senior class is also one of the most diverse in the program's history with two goalies Geneva Perez and Sofie Munoz, two attackers Kelsey Shyba and Morgan McClafferty, one utility player in Katya Soot, a defender in April DesCombes, and a center in Albino.
The Tigers conclude the regular season on Saturday at Caltech. With a victory Oxy will advance to the SCIAC Championship Tournament on April 25-27, as the conferences No. 6 seed. The winner of the conference championship will advance to the NCAA National Championship Tournament May 1-3.
BOX SCORE 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL
Occidental 1 1 1 3 6
CMS 3 2 2 3 10
Oxy Stats:
Goals/Attempts: Shyba-3/4, Kosin-1/4, Albino-1/5, Soot-1/4, McClafferty-0/3, Gill-0/6, Zurcher-0/4, Gibbs-0/1
Assists: DesCombes-1, Albino-1, McClafferty-1, Zurcher-1, Gibbs-1
Steals: Albino-3, McClafferty-3, Shyba-1, Gill-1, Soot-1
Turn-Overs: Albino-2, Kosin-1, DesCombes-1, Shyba-1, Soot-1
Exclusions/Drawn: Shyba-2/3, McClafferty-2/0, Gill-2/0, Albino-0/4, Gibbs-0/1, Soot-0/2
Saves/Goals Allowed: Perez-3/5, Munoz-2/5
