Hawks and Bears, Too Strong for CMS in Axelrood Pool
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's water polo team dropped both of their matches on Saturday against stiff competition. In the morning match, the Athenas fell to No. 13 Hartwick College 16-7, before dropping their second game of the day to Brown University by an 11-7 final. Amelia Ayala (CMC), Roxy Kiessling (CMC), and Aracelia Aldrete (CMC) each registered three goals on the day to lead the Athenas' offense.
Game One: No. 13 Hartwick defeats CMS 16-7
Hartwick controlled the first quarter of the morning match, striking for the first four goals of the contest. The Athenas got on the board in the final second of the opening period with a goal from Amelia Ayala. The quarter closed with Hartwick leading 4-1.
After two quick goals by the Hawks to open the second quarter, Aracelia Aldrete found the back of the net with 6:14 remaining to cut the deficit to 6-2. Hartwick continued to pressure CMS offensively, scoring four more goals to close out the first half with a 10-2 lead.
Roxy Kiessling opened up the scoring in the third period with a goal two minutes into the half. After two tallies from the Hawks, Kiessling and Haley Gibbs (SC) scored less than a minute apart to make it a 12-4 game. The Hawks scored once more before the end of the period, taking a 13-5 lead into the final period.
Jessica Gaffney (CMC) found the net 30 seconds into the final frame for CMS, bringing the score to 13-6 in favor of Hartwick. The Hawks scored the next two goals and Aldrete answered with her second of the game. The fourth quarter came to a close with the Hawks earning the 16-7 win.
Kiessling and Aldrete each scored two goals in the game to lead CMS with Kiessling also adding four steals.
Game Two: Brown defeats CMS 11-7
The Athenas battled with the Brown Bears, keeping pace throughout most of the match. Both defenses held strong through the first half of the opening quarter before the Bears scored the game's first goal at the 4:26 mark. Anna Fry (HMC) evened the contest after finding the back of the net with 3:03 remaining in the period. Aldrete followed with a goal of her own 30 seconds later to give the Athenas a 2-1 lead. Brown quickly responded, tying the game 2-2 with 2:05 to play. The Bears scored again a minute later to take a 3-2 lead into the second frame.
Ayala began the second quarter with a game-tying goal a minute in. Brown scored the next two goals, with less than a minute separating the two, to take a 5-3 lead with less than three minutes to go in the quarter. Ayala scored with an assist from Gaffney with five seconds left in the half to bring the Athenas within one at halftime, trailing 5-4.
The third period was all Brown. The Bears scored two goals and held CMS off the board to take a 7-4 lead into the final quarter.
The Bears scored two goals to open the fourth frame and took a commanding 9-4 lead. Krystal Sung brought the Athenas within four with a goal at the 4:43 mark, and Kiessling scored two minutes later to cut the deficit to 9-6. Christine Hu answered a Brown goal with one of her own with 1:44 to play, but the Athenas were unable to overcome the Bears' second-half push and fell by an 11-7 final.
Ayala led CMS with two goals in the game, bringing her total to three for the day. Kiessling and Aldrete also had three-goal days and Kiessling finished her day with five steals.
CMS is back in the pool on Wednesday night when they host the Whittier College Poets at 7:00 p.m. in Axelrood Pool.
