CMS Women's Water Polo Builds Big Lead, Hangs On for 9-8 Win over La Verne

LA VERNE, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's water polo team built a 9-2 lead late in the third quarter and withstood a fourth-quarter La Verne rally as it held on for a 9-8 SCIAC road win over the Leopards on Saturday morning at Las Flores Park.

Mia Adsen and Christina Kulick each had hat tricks to lead the Athena offense on the day. With the win, CMS improves to 5-1 in the SCIAC with three of the wins coming by one goal, although the other two (Cal Lutheran, Whittier) saw the Athenas break late ties on goals from Cooper McKenna.

This time around, the winning goal was scored by Olivia Cairns with 1:35 left in the third quarter, which gave CMS a 9-2 lead. La Verne closed out the third with a goal to make it 9-3, and then outscored the Athenas 5-0 in the fourth, with the final one coming with 33 seconds left, resulting in the shot clock being turned off for the final possession. CMS was able to play keepaway in the final seconds, though, not allowing the Leopards to get the ball back as it held on for the win.  

The Athenas jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second after the second goal from Adsen. McKenna answered a La Verne goal to make it 4-1, and Kulick beat the halftime buzzer with her second goal to make it 5-2 heading into the break. 

Adsen and Kulick finished off their hat tricks in succession to start the second half, and goals from Emily McElroy and Cairns made it a 5-0 CMS run spanning both halves, extending the lead to 9-2 before the Leopards mounted their comeback that fell short. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Chapman, looking to pick up another SCIAC road win.